My research lab has two main foci, one is protein and virus evolution using bioinformatics and the other is bioinformatics education research. Our bioinformatics education research aims to provide evidence-based curricula and practices that increase students’ i) awareness, knowledge, and skill of bioinformatics, ii) access to education and research experiences in bioinformatics, and iii) workforce readiness in bioinformatics and transferable research skills. We use a fusion of bioinformatics and biomedical research to create engaging course-based research experiences that support a variety of similar yet distinct projects for a class of high school or undergraduate biology students.