Brendan Blumenstiel is a Senior Scientist with the Sabeti group working across the Viral Sequencing and Diagnostics efforts to help streamline, automate and scale various workflows supporting early pathogen detection and research. Brendan joined the Broad Institute in 1999 when it was called the Whitehead Center for Genome Research to help scale the Human Genome Project. Over the past 25 years, he has focused on standing up and operationalizing high throughput systems to support the evolving understanding of human genetic variation and its role in disease and health. Prior to joining the Sabeti Group, Brendan acted as Sr. Director of Genomics R&D in the Genomics Platform/ Broad Clinical Labs where he recently helped lead the development, automation and validation of Broad’s Covid-19 diagnostic testing platform ultimately leading to the processing more than 37 Million tests and sequencing 10’s of thousands of viral genomes. 

Brendan studied Biology at The Colorado College graduating in 1998 and spent time studying agricultural practices in rural Nepal. Before joining the Human Genome Project, he managed a 200 acre fruit and vegetable farm in Southeastern Massachusetts throughout high school and college. 

Today Brendan lives in Essex, MA on the north shore with his wife and two kids (11 and 9) and prioritizes time in the mountains and on the water, exploring, fishing, skiing or whatever outdoor adventure presents itself.