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Category: News

Listing of news from the Institute of Bioinformatics at University of Georgia

Celine Hong – 2012 James L. Carmon Scholarship Award Recipient

Celine Hong, PhD candidate in the Institute of Bioinformatics, uses innovative ideas and cutting-edge computational methods to address biological problems related to cancer. One of the main topics in Hong’s research is to find a way to enhance cancer diagnosis by identifying biomarkers that can be used to detect the disease at an early stage. Her first project was to develop a computational method for predicting excreted protein to find non-invasive biomarkers in urine. Using experimental techniques to complement her computational prediction, such as western blots and antibody arrays, her work led to the discovery that a protein called endothelial lipase is greatly suppressed in urine from gastric cancer patients versus control. This non-invasive method of testing shows great promise as a diagnostic tool for other types of cancer and a variety of other diseases. Hong has continued her studies with a focus on finding microRNA biomarkers, as well as studying the apoptosis pathways in cancer cells. She is developing and applying novel computational techniques to make meaningful discoveries in her research.

Natarajan Kannan wins the NSF Career Award

Congratulations to Dr. Natarajan Kannan for winning the NSF Career Award for his project entitled “Unraveling the Design Principles of Protein Kinases using an Evolutionary Systems Approach.”

Congratulations to Drs. Anuj Srivastava and Yupeng Wang

Congratulations to Drs. Anuj Srivastava and Yupeng Wang in successfully defending their PhD dissertation.   Dr. Srivastava will be joining the Jackson Laboratory as a Senior Research Scientist.  Dr. Wang will continue his current work at the Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory as a postdoctoral research fellow.

Recently published paper by Eric Talevich, Amar Mirza and Professor Natarajan Kannan

IOB graduate student Eric Talevich, Biochemistry undergraduate Amar Mirza and IOB Assistant Professor Natarajan Kannan have published a research article in BMC Evolutionary Biology titled:  “Structural and Evolutionary Divergence of Eukaryotic Protein Kinases in Apicomplexa”. The study examines a medically important protein superfamily as it appears in the malaria pathogen and its evolutionary relatives.

Talevich E, Mirza A, Kannan N: Structural and evolutionary divergence of eukaryotic protein kinases  in Apicomplexa. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2011, 11:321

Read more at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/11/321

Jessica Kissinger Named Director, Institute of Bioinformatics

Jessica KissingerGenetics Associate Professor Jessica Kissinger is named as the second director of the Institute of Bioinformatics. She succeeds Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Professor and Eminent Scholar Ying Xu. The Institute was formed in 2004 by former Genetics Department Head Professor John McDonald.