Bioinformatics: Understanding Our Genes
Event Information
About this event
What the heck is Bioinformatics, anyway? A field of study that combines biology, statistics and computer science, bioinformatics helps us make sense of biological data like DNA and explain how the magic we call life plays out in our tiny cells. Dr. Saurabh Sinha leads a bioinformatics lab and is here to help illuminate its vast potential. Join us to learn more about how Dr. Sinha sees his field advancing and changing the way we think about our DNA.
Since the discovery of DNA, the blueprint of life written in A’s, C’s, T’s and G’s, we have learned a lot more about how genes work. Genes determine our eye color, the speed at which trees grow, and how viruses infect organisms all over the planet. Bioinformatics allows us to better understand the way these processes work. A grand challenge in the field is to explain how specific genes are turned on and off in an exquisitely coordinated manner, in just the right cells at just the right time. Understanding gene regulation has a lot of potential to do real good, for instance by helping diagnose and cure disease, or by engineering alternative energy solutions, but also pushes modern data science to the limits of its capability. What are these challenges and how are bioinformaticians meeting them? What does the future of understanding DNA look like? What can we expect gene regulation to do for us? Register to find out!
Event Details
Monday, June 14th from 4:00pm-4:45pm CT, C2ST Facebook Live & C2ST TV YouTube Live.
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We are dedicated to providing an inclusive environment for everyone. Please respect diversity in individuals and in cultures.
Featured Speaker:
Saurabh Sinha, PhD
Saurabh Sinha received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2002, and after post-doctoral work at the Rockefeller University with Eric Siggia, he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 2005. He is Founder Professor and Willett Faculty Scholar in the Department of Computer Science, and Director of Computational Genomics in the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. His research is in the area of bioinformatics, with a focus on regulatory genomics and systems biology. Sinha is an NSF CAREER award recipient and has been funded by NIH, NSF and USDA. He co-directed an NIH BD2K Center of Excellence and is currently a thrust lead in the NSF AI Institute at UIUC. He leads the educational program of the Mayo Clinic-University of Illinois Alliance, and co-led data science education for the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Sinha has served as Program co-Chair of the annual RECOMB Regulatory and Systems Genomics conference and is on the Board of Directors for the International Society for Computational Biology. He was a recipient of the University Scholar award of the University of Illinois, and selected as a Fellow of the AIMBE in 2018.
This program presented in partnership with:
Organizer The Chicago Council on Science and Technology
Organizer of Bioinformatics: Understanding Our Genes
