She received her BS from Yale University and her PhD in computer science from MIT. She then worked on the Human Genome Project at the MIT/Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research, mapping the human, mouse, and rat genomes and designing pioneering computational methods for gene expression data analysis. She conducted pharmacogenomics research at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, where her work helped identify new drug targets and causes of side effects in clinical trials. Now at Tufts University, she runs an interdisciplinary research group that attracts students from Computer Science, Genetics, Medicine, and Biomedical Engineering. Her current research focuses on using genomics to identify new diagnostic and treatment approaches for developmental disorders.