Oct 12

CS Tea Talk Series

Thu, October 12, 2017 • 4:00pm - 5:00pm (1h) • CMC 209

Title: Mining human genomes for genetic interactions underlying disease

Abstract: The recent availability of genome sequences has enabled genome-wide association studies, which attempt to link specific genetic variants to disease. While these studies have produced a number of new candidate genetic loci, most still fail to explain the large majority of heritability associated with common diseases. One explanation is the presence of genetic interactions, or instances where multiple variants combine to cause disease. However, the enormous space of possible combinations of variants in each of our genomes makes systematic discovery of these interactions challenging. I will describe our recent efforts to translate insights about genetic interactions from model organisms like yeast to develop computational methods for discovering genetic interactions from human population genetic data.

Bio:
Chad Myers received his Ph.D. from the Department of Computer Science and the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University in 2007, working with Professor Olga Troyanskaya.  In 2008, he began his current position in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota, where he is now an Associate Professor.  Dr. Myers’s research focuses on computational methods for analysis and interpretation of large-scale genetic interaction networks and methods for integration of diverse genomic data to predict gene function or infer biological networks.  His lab is developing approaches for analyzing and leveraging interaction networks to answer biological questions in a variety of systems including yeast, plants (Arabidopsis and maize), worm and human.

Event Contact: Sue Jandro

Event Summary

CS Tea Talk Series
  • Intended For: Students, Faculty, Staff

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