COLLOQUIUM
Joint CS/BBT/MA colloquium
Computation and networks in biology: connecting the bio-dots A.J. Marian Walhout, PhD Associate Professor UMass Medical School Friday, December 4th, 2009 12:00 -1:00pm Atwater Kent 116 Biology and computer science are two separate disciplines, right? Not so fast: there is more common between the two than you may realize. First, biology is increasingly a data-driven science. With the advent of whole genome sequences and the development of high-throughput technologies to measure DNA, RNA and proteins, computation has become a very important part of the toolkit for today’s biologists. Second, and more interestingly, I will argue in my presentation that biology equals computation. Decision-making, whether at the macro or micro level is a computational process. Cells are mini-computers that have to decide on a biological output based on their molecular input. By determining the wiring between different types of biomolecules, we aim to gain insight into highly intricate biological processes such as cell fate determination in development, response to the environment and diseases. Our work on regulatory networks will be discussed with an emphasis on data analysis and computation. ________ Dr. Walhout obtained a Bachelor and Master degree in Biology at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, with a focus on Molecular Biology. She then obtained a PhD in Medicine at the same University, with a focus on Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. In 1998 she came to the USA for a post-doc at Harvard Medical School in Functional Genomics and Systems Biology. She started her lab at UMass Medical School in 2003, where they work on regulatory networks and how they relate to development, physiology and disease.
Host: Prof. Matthew Ward Refreshments will be served. Maintained by webmaster@cs.wpi.edu
Department of Computer Science - Worcester Polytechnic Institute 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA 01609-2280 Phone: +1-508-831-5357 - Fax: +1-508-831-5776 - cs@wpi.edu