Profile Details

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Hire Dr. Carlien R.

South Africa

USD 40 /hr

Freelance Bioinformatician & Data Analyst | R & Command line | Microbiome analysis

Profile Summary

My undergraduate to MSc tertiary journey gave me a strong academic background in Biotechnology and Genetics. I am a PhD candidate (Graduation in March 2025) specializing in Psychiatry (Neuropsychiatric genetics), focusing on neuropsychiatric disorders and gut microbiome. My PhD has provided me the opportunity to develop skills in omics-based analysis, data interpretation, and advanced bioinformatics approaches, with a keen interest in uncovering the complex interactions between genetics and mental health.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ★ Molecular Biology
• ★ Bioinformatics
• ★ Neuropsychiatry
• ☆ Computational Biology
• ☆ Microbiology
• ☆ Microbiome Research
• ☆ Agricultural Microbiology
• ☆ Biochemistry
• ☆ Immunoassay
• ☆ Genetics
• ☆ Omics
• ☆ Transcriptomics
• ☆ PCR
• ☆ Molecular Cloning
• ☆ Gene Expression Analysis
• ☆ Recombinant DNA
• ☆ Biotechnology & Bioengineering
• ☆ Recombinant Protein Expression
• ☆ Statistics
• ☆ Multivariate Analysis
• ☆ Bayesian Statistics
• ☆ Correlation Analysis
• ☆ Gene & Protein Expression Analysis
• ☆ Agricultural Biotechnology
• ☆ Taxonomy/Classification
• ☆ R
• ☆ Neurology
• ☆ Parkinson's Disease
• ☆ Counseling & Mental Health Support
• ☆ PTSD
• ☆ Schizophrenia
• ☆ Psychiatry

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting
• Data & AI

Writing Medical Writing, Technical Writing, Copywriting, General Proofreading & Editing

Research Fact Checking, Scientific and Technical Research

Consulting Scientific and Technical Consulting

Data & AI Predictive Modeling, Statistical Analysis, Data Visualization, Big Data Analytics, Data Mining, Data Processing

Work Experience

lecturer

ISA Carstens Academy

February 2023 - September 2024

Substitute Teacher

Stellenberg High School

July 2021 - May 2022

Education

PhD in Psychiatry

Stellenbosch University

January 2022 - Present

MSc in Plant Biotechnology

Stellenbosch University

January 2019 - March 2022

BSc(Hons) in Plant Biotechnology

Stellenbosch University

January 2018 - December 2018

PGCE - Secondary (Biology)

Stellenbosch University

January 2017 - December 2017

BSc in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

Stellenbosch University

January 2013 - December 2016

Certifications

• An Introduction to Proofreading

  Alison courses

  October 2024 - Present

• Python for Beginners

  Alison courses

  October 2024 - Present

• Gut Check: Exploring Your Microbiome

  University of Colorado Boulder (Cousera)

  April 2022 - Present

• 16S rRNA Microbiome Intermediate Bioinformatics Training Course (INT-BT)

  H3ABioNet

  December 2021 - Present

Publications

PREPRINT

Carlien Rust, Leigh van den Heuvel, Laila Asmal, Jonathan Carr, Etheresia Pretorius, Soraya Seedat, Sian Hemmings (2024). Investigating the association between the gut microbiome and cytokine concentrations in Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and PTSD .

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Carlien Rust, Stefanie Malan-Muller, Leigh L. van den Heuvel, Daniel Tonge, Soraya Seedat, Etheresia Pretorius, Sian M.J. Hemmings(2023). Platelets bridging the gap between gut dysbiosis and neuroinflammation in stress-linked disorders: A narrative review . Journal of Neuroimmunology. 382. p. 578155. Elsevier {BV}

Patricia C. Swart, Morne Du Plessis, Jacqueline S. Womersley, Leigh L. van den Heuvel, Soraya Seedat, Sian M. J. Hemmings, Carlien Rust (2023). Identifying genetic loci that are associated with changes in gene expression in PTSD in a South African cohort . Journal of Neurochemistry.