Evolution of Protein Structure and Function
& Bioinformatics Education Research
Computational Biology Research
Bioinformatics Education Research
We perform research in different areas of computational biology, in a comparative, evolutionary fashion. With an emphasis on understanding how protein structure and function have shaped the genomic sequence library of today, we pursue projects aimed at elucidating novel mechanisms of molecular evolution that contribute to biological divergence among and within species. We are particularly interested in how changes in predicted structural divergence in a protein family may indicate change in selective pressure and functional divergence. The long-term goal is to utilize our findings for applications in health care.
Our bioinformatics education research aims to provide evidence-based curricula and practices that increase students’ i) awareness, knowledge, and skill of bioinformatics, ii) access to education and research experiences in bioinformatics, and iii) workforce readiness in bioinformatics and transferable research skills.
We use a fusion of bioinformatics and biomedical research to create engaging course-based research experiences that support a variety of similar yet distinct projects for a class setting.