Jordan Powers

About Jordan Powers

Currently, I am a Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) Study Manger with Genewiz at Azenta Life Sciences. I oversee discovery and clinical based projects from study design through data delivery to ensure timely and quality completion of projects. I provide direct support to our key accounts and provide insight and consultations from experimental design through processing to address client questions and needs.Prior to this role I was a graduate researcher and postdoctoral research associate with Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) at Duke University working in Dr. Xinnian Dong\'s lab studying salicylic acid (SA) signaling. As a member of the Dong lab, I utilized comprehensive genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics approaches to analyze SA-induced changes in transcription, transcription factor binding, cofactor binding, and chromatin architecture and validate these findings through molecular biology. The highlight of my work was adapting and optimizing a nanobody-based CUT & RUN methodology for non-DNA binding proteins and using multiomics to dissect the signaling cascade responsible for SA transcriptional reprogramming. My work focused on examining the impact SA has on transcription factor chromatin binding and using histone modifications and transcriptional machinery binding to predict transcriptional changes in response to SA using machine learning algorithms.I am well versed in preparing and troubleshooting NGS libraries, analyzing and applying statistics to large datasets including, targeted proteomic (Turbo-ID, LC-MS/MS) and NGS (Microarray, RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, CUT & RUN, ATAC-seq, QuantSeq), using R, Python, Bash, and Nextflow, parametric and nonparametric statistics, and validating these findings with traditional cellular and molecular biology approaches, including molecular cloning, qPCR, AlphaScreen, immunoprecipitation, pathogen assays, and confocal microscopy. Additionally, as a graduate student, I was a Senior Engagement Manager with the Duke Advanced Degree Pro-bono Consulting (DACC). In this role, I helped staff and advise three teams of student consultants on 10 to 12-week strategy consulting projects with startup companies spanning healthcare, B2B logistics, and technology industries.

Experience

1. Team Lead, Ngs Study Management

   GENEWIZ from Azenta Life Sciences

   Mar 2026 — Present

Education

• St. Bonaventure University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Biochemistry

• Duke University

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD, Genetics and Genomics