Prof. Mark Gerstein Yale University, USA

Dr. Gerstein is the Albert Williams Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry and Computer Science at Yale University. His research involves applying quantitative approaches such as data mining and simulation to problems in molecular biology. He is specifically interested in human genome annotation, molecular networks, and macromolecular geometry.... read more

We do research in bioinformatics, applying computational approaches to problems in molecular biology. Broadly, we are interested in large-scale analyses of genome sequences, macromolecular structures, and functional-genomics datasets. It is hoped that these will allow us to address a number of overall statistical questions about macromolecules, relating to their physical properties, cellular function, interactions, and phylogenetic distribution. We are especially focused on the human genome and proteome. Our research involves a number of quantitative techniques, including database design, systematic datamining and machine learning, visualization of high-dimensional data, and molecular simulation. More specifically, we focus on three questions. First, we are interested in annotating the raw human genome sequence, especially in characterizing the vast intergenic regions. Next, we are trying to get at the function of all the genes encoded by the genome. Here, we try to characterize function on a large-scale through the use of molecular networks. Finally, for the group of protein-coding genes that have known 3D structures, we are trying to see how their function is carried out through motion and how motion can be predicted from packing geometry.