1. science
2. engineering

UF Rising
Preeminence Hires
25 Engineering/Life Sciences
Researchers
Dr. Ana Conesa
Agricultural & Life Sciences/Microbiology
Topic: Informatics for Life Sciences
Dr. Ana Conesa is co-founder of BioBam and the head of the Genomics
of Gene Expression Group within the Bioinformatics and Genomics
Department at the Prince Felipe Research Institute (CIPF), Valencia,
Spain. She did her PhD in fungal genetics at the Dutch Institute for
Applied Sciences (TNO), which she followed by leading a pioneering
Bioinformatics project in the Toxicology Department in the same
institute. She then moved to the Valencia Agricultural Research Institute
to set-up a Bioinformatics service.
In April 2007, she joined the CIPF where her research activity now
focuses on Functional Genomics, in the development of bioinformatic
methods for the functional annotation of non-model organisms, the
statistical analysis of transcriptomics data and the integration of systems
biology data, in particular, Blast2GO. She has published nearly 50 peerreviewed scientific articles related to applied bioinformatics.
(Anticipated start date of 8/30/14)
Dr. Arie Havelaar
Agricultural & Life
Sciences/Animal Sciences
Topic: Food Hub
Dr. Arie H. Havelaar graduated in Chemical Engineering with specialization in Technical
Microbiology (with honours) at the Delft University of Technology. He obtained his PhD at
Utrecht University (Bacteriophages as virus models in water treatment) and also obtained an MSc
in Epidemiology at the Netherlands Institute of Health Sciences (Erasmus University,
Rotterdam).
Arie Havelaar is deputy head of the Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology at
the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in Bilthoven, the
Netherlands. He also holds a chair in Microbial Risk Assessment at the Institute for Risk
Assessment Sciences at the Veterinary Faculty of Utrecht University in the Netherlands.
Arie Havelaar’s research covers the broad field of public health aspects of pathogens in food and
the environment, and the effectiveness of preventive measures. Currently, his attention is mainly
focused on development and application of microbiological risk assessment and the burden of
foodborne illness. He is (co-) author of more that 100 scientific publications, several books and
numerous scientific reports.
Arie Havelaar is director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Risk Assessment of Pathogens in
Food and Water at RIVM. Within Med-Vet-Net, he is active as Institute Representative and
Work Package leader in the Risk Research thematic area. He is a member of the Biohazards
Panel of the European Food Safety Authority and has chaired the Scientific Committee of CHRO
2007 (Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 2-5 September 2007). His contributions to microbiology were
honoured by election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and he was
awarded the German Rudolf Schülke Hygiene Preis.
(Anticipated start date of 10/1/14)
Dr. Riccardo Bevilacqua
Engineering/Mechanical and Aerospace
Topic: Autonomous Systems
Education
University of Rome, “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
Ph.D., Mathematical Methods and Models for Applied
Sciences (Engineering focus), February 2007
Dissertation: “Optimization Techniques for Satellites
Proximity Maneuvers” University of Rome, “La Sapienza”, Rome,
Italy Laurea Degree (5 years), Aerospace Engineering,
December 2002, cum laude
Thesis: “Nonlinear Attitude Control for Satellites Platforms Equipped
with V.S.C.M.G. (Variable Speed Control Momentum Gyroscopes)”
Professional Assistant Professor in the Mechanical, Aerospace, and
Nuclear Engineering
Employment Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 2010-2014.
Post-Doctoral Fellow (US National Research Council) at
the Mechanical and Astronautical Department, Spacecraft Robotics &
NanoSat Advanced Concepts Laboratories, Naval Postgraduate
School (U.S. Navy), Monterey, CA. 2007-2010 . Ph. D. Student
University of Rome.
Project engineer Grupo Mecànica del Vuelo (Grupo GMV)
Flight Dynamics Division, Tres Cantos, Madrid, Spain. 2003
(Anticipated start date of 8/16/14)
Dr. Lin Yang
Engineering/Biomedical Engineering
Topic: Biomedical Informatics
Lin Yang is an assistant professor with the Division of Biomedical
Informatics at Dept. of Biostatistics, and Dept. of Computer Science at
University of Kentucky. He leads the Biomedical Imaging Computing
and Imaging Informatics (BICI2) Lab.
He received his B. E. and M. S. from Xian Jiaotong University in 1999
and 2002, and his Ph. D. in Dept. of Electrical and Computer
Engineering from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 2009
(http://www.ece.rutgers.edu/Alumni_in_Academia). He did part of his
research in Siemens Corporate Research and IBM T. J. Watson Research
Center in 2007 and 2008. He was an assistant professor in the Dept. of
Radiology and graduate faculty in the Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
in Rutgers University from 2009-2011.
His major research interests are focus on biomedical image analysis,
imaging informatics, computer vision, and machine learning. He is also
working on high performance computing and computer aided
diagnostics.
(Anticipated start date of 8/16/14)
Dr. Patrick Traynor
Engineering/Computer and Information Science and
Engineering
Topic: Cybersecurity
Dr. Patrick Traynor is the Associate Professor in the Department of Computer and
Information Science and Engineering (CISE) at the University of Florida. His
research focuses on the security of mobile systems, with a concentration on
telecommunications infrastructure and mobile devices. His research has uncovered
critical vulnerabilities in cellular networks, made the first characterization of
mobile malware in provider networks and offers a robust approach to detecting and
combatting Caller-ID scams. Dr. Traynor is also interested in Internet security and
the systems challenges of applied cryptography. He received a CAREER Award
from the National Science Foundation in 2010 and was named a Sloan Fellow in
2014.
Dr. Traynor earned my Ph.D and M.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from
the Pennsylvania State University in 2008 and 2004, respectively, and my B.S. in
Computer Science from the University of Richmond in 2002. After promotion and
tenure in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, he joined the University
of Florida in 2014 as part of the UFRising Preeminence Hiring Program. He is
currently the co-director of the Southeastern Security for Enterprise and
Infrastructure (SENSEI) Lab, and is also a co-founder of Pindrop Security.
(Anticipated start date of 8/16/14)
Dr. Shaundra Daily
Engineering/Computer and Information Science and
Engineering
Topic: Human Centered Computing
Dr. Daily was an Associate Professor in the School of Computing at Clemson University
directing MorphLab. She received her masters and doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology Media Lab where her doctoral work with the Affective Computing Group involved
designing and implementing technology-infused learning environments that provide youth an
opportunity to learn about themselves, others, and to gain insight into interpersonal dynamics.
Upon arrival at the MIT Media Lab in 2003, Shaundra combined the ideas of constructionist
learning and affective computing to create a new system to address the emotional needs of
teenaged girls. She designed and implemented an innovative new technology that brought
together state-of-the art common-sense machine learning with theories of human learning and
constructionism. While building this system, she collaborated with the Future of Learning Group
on “The City that We Want” project in which learners build computational models for how they
would like to improve their communities. Shaundra also collaborated on RoBallet, which bridged
dance and robotics, and created the INNER-active Journal, a digital journal collecting
physiological data for future reflection.
Prior to Shaundra’s work at MIT, she received a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University – Florida State University College of
Engineering. There, she worked on developing algorithms in Matlab for predicting the possibility
of student success in entry-level electrical engineering courses. She also designed curriculum for
and facilitated Technical OutReach Community Help (T.O.R.C.H.), a program of the National
Society of Black Engineers geared toward closing the digital divide.
Dr. Daily has been profiled in the American Association for Advancement in Science website
profiling African American Scientists; Engineer Your Life, geared towards encouraging young
women to pursue engineering careers; and WGBH’s Science City.
(Anticipated start date of 8/15/14)
Dr. Christina Gardner
Engineering/Computer and Information Science and
Engineering
Topic: Human Centered Computing
Dr. Christina Gardner-McCune was most recently an Assistant Professor at Clemson University in the
Human-Centered Computing Division of the School of Computing. She has her PhD in Computer Science
from GA Tech. She enjoys combining her expertise in computing with her passions for cooking, science,
and designing learning experiences and technologies for middle and high school students as well as
undergraduates. Her research focuses on gaining a better understand of how students learn and apply
STEM and computing content in their everyday lives and to design learning environments to support
students in making these connections.
She is the co-designer of Kitchen Science Investigators (KSI), a year-long cooking and science program
for middle school students, that teaches the science behind cooking. She led the design of the GA Tech I3
Experience (Imagine, Investigate, and Innovate), a series of after-school programs designed to motivate
and support high school students in the creation of personal expressions of computing through hands-on,
project-based learning. She led the design of the Computational Thinking Olympiad (CTO) for middle
school students to learn about computing through a one-day competition where they engage in physically
and mentally challenging activities. On the undergraduate level, she participated in the national pilot of the
new AP CS Principles course and designed and instructed a course in mobile application design for nonCS majors.
She has recently completed Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Office of Outreach, Enrollment, and
Community in the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology where she designed the afterschool and summer camp programs. She holds a B. S. degree in Computer Engineering from Syracuse
University, and earned both her masters and doctorate in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of
Technology. She is also a board member of Y-STEM (Youth Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics organization), a non-profit foundation focused on enhancing the quality and accessibility of
formal and informal STEM learning opportunities to African American and disadvantaged youth.
(Anticipated start date of 8/16/14)
Dr. Juan Gilbert
Engineering/Computer and Information Science and
Engineering
Topic: Human Centered Computing
Awarded the first Presidential Endowed Chair at Clemson University,
and being named a Fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS), are just a couple of Juan Gilbert's
more noteworthy honors. Juan was most recently the Associate Chair of
Research in the Computer & Information Science & Engineering
Department at the University of Florida where he leads the Human
Centered Computing Lab. With the help of students, the lab works on a
variety of issues, including electronic voting, automotive user interfaces,
advanced learning technologies, culturally relevant computing or
ethnocomputing, and databases and data analytics. He is also a Fellow of
the American Association for the Advancement Science (AAAS), an
ACM Distinguished Scientist, National Associate of the National
Research Council of the National Academies, an ACM Distinguished
Speaker and a Senior Member of the IEEE Computer Society. Dr.
Gilbert was recently named one of the 50 most important AfricanAmericans in Technology.
(Anticipated start date of 7/1/14)
Dr. Kyla McMullen
Engineering/Computer and Information Science and
Engineering
Topic: Human Centered Computing
Dr. Kyla McMullen is one of the newest additions as an
Assistant Professor to the Human-Centered Computing division
in Clemson’s School of Computing. She obtained her BS in
Computer Science at the University of Maryland and her MS and
PhD in Computer Science at the University of Michigan. Her
work focuses on Human Computer Interaction, specifically in
auditory interfaces. She is investigating the use of spatial audio
in the development of spatial mental maps to increase situational
awareness for operators in dynamic, limited sight, divided
attention environments.
(Anticipated start date of 8/11/14)
Dr. Damon Woodward
Engineering/Computer and Information Science and
Engineering
Topic: Human Centered Computing
Dr. Woodard received his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the
University of Notre Dame, his M.E. in Computer Science and Engineering from
Penn State University, and his B.S. in Computer Science and Computer Information
Systems from Tulane University. He is currently an Associate Professor within the
Human-Centered Computing (HCC) Division in the School of Computing at
Clemson University where he has established the Biometrics and Pattern
Recognition Lab (BPRL). In 2008, the BPRL joined North Carolina A&T State
University and University of North Carolina Wilmington in forming the Center of
Advanced Studies in the Identity Sciences (CASIS) which is the Office of the
Director National Intelligence's first science and technology based Center of
Academic Excellence (CAE).
His research interests include biometrics, pattern recognition, computer vision, and
identity sciences. Prior to joining Clemson University, Dr. Woodard was a Director
of Central Intelligence postdoctoral fellow. His postdoctoral research focused on
the development of advanced iris recognition systems using high resolution sensors.
His current research projects include the development of periocular based biometric
systems, ear shape based biometrics, and soft biometric classification.
(Anticipated start date of 1/1/15)
Dr. Alfredo Garcia
Engineering/Industrial and Systems Engineering
Topic: Informatics Techniques and Technologies
A University of Virginia researcher, working in conjunction with the Commonwealth
Center for Advanced Logistics Systems (CCALS) and government management
consultancy LMI, Dr. Alfredo Garcia believes that academic research may be the key to
identifying ways in which power systems can be designed and operated to be more
resilient to cyber-attacks. The timely research follows on the heels of U.S. Secretary of
Energy Ernest Moniz[1] recently announcing that cyber-attacks against the country’s
power infrastructure are occurring on a regular basis.
Alfredo Garcia, professor of Systems and Information Engineering at the University of
Virginia, through his work with CCALS and LMI, is seeking to better understand industry
needs and install assurances that that university-level research being completed can be
applied to realistic scenarios regarding cyber-attacks. The collaborative research project
between LMI, CCALS, and Garcia will concentrate on developing a model for secure
power dispatch that can guarantee reliability against multiple correlated risks.
Garcia is a native of Colombia who worked as an electrical engineer before studying for a
master’s degree in France and earning a doctorate degree at the University of Michigan.
Following his education, Garcia returned to Colombia to work for the government’s
electric power industry. For the last thirteen years, he has taught at the University of
Virginia.
(Anticipated start date of 1/1/15)
Dr. Daniela Oliveira
Engineering/Electrical and Computer Engineering
Topic: Informatics Techniques and Technologies
Daniela Oliveira received her BS and MS degree in Computer Science
from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil in 1999 and 2001,
respectively. After working as a software engineer for three years, she
started her PhD program at the Department of Computer Science at the
University of California, Davis. In June 2010, she received her PhD in
Computer Science from the University of California at Davis, where she
specializes in computer security and operating systems. Her current
research focuses on employing virtual machine and operating systems
collaboration to protect OS kernels. She is also interested in
understanding the nature of software vulnerabilities. She is the recipient
of the NSF CAREER Award 2012 and the 2012 United States
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)
from President Obama.
(Anticipated start date of 7/1/14)
Dr. Richard Hennig
Engineering/Materials Science and Engineering
Topic: Informatics for Engineered Systems and the
Physical Systems
Professor Hennig received his Diploma in Physics at the University of Göttingen in
1997 and his Ph.D. in Physics from Washington University in St. Louis in 2000.
After working as a postdoctoral researcher and research scientist at Ohio State
University, he joined the faculty of the Department of Materials Science and
Engineering at Cornell in 2006.
Professor Hennig's research in computational materials science focuses on
atomistic studies of defects, phase transitions, electronic properties and mechanical
behavior of materials. We aim to develop computational techniques that both
accurately predict materials properties and provide an estimate of their accuracy
and to apply these methods to accelerated materials development and enhanced
understanding of the effect of atomic-scale processes on meso and macroscale
behavior. Our strengths are atomic multi-scale simulations that combine highly
accurate quantum mechanical methods such as density functional theory and
quantum Monte Carlo with efficient molecular dynamics simulations and saddlepoint techniques.
(Anticipated start date of 8/16/14)
Dr. Kevin Otto
Engineering/Biomedical Engineering
Topic: Neuroscience and Brain
Dr. Kevin Otto is interested in assuring designs provide the intended benefits – they do what they
are supposed to do, the way the users want. This is notoriously difficult when the design is
complex: involving many elements which can change over time and interact in different ways,
particularly when software controls are used to monitor and adjust the system dynamically. To
study these systems, physics based models of the product as scalable subsystems are created, to
cascade design requirements to the subsystems and components. Further, super-system models of
the product environment are also created, to simulate alternative designs and ensure the design
performs well. Beyond optimizing the design, one can also use such models to design the product
to continue to operate despite degradation impacts of adverse environmental conditions,
imperfections in manufacture and assembly, and failure of various components or systems. Prof.
Otto is working to create the design science, algorithms, processes, methods and tools to enable
this capability.
Education
PhD Mechanical Engineering, Caltech
BS Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota
Research Interests
Robust Design of Complex Systems
Risk Management in New Product Development
Verification and Validation of Complex Systems
Design of Integrated Low Energy Buildings
Policy Design to Increase Adoption of Low Carbon Systems
(Anticipated start date of 8/16/14)
Dr. Karim Oweiss
Engineering/Electrical and Computer
Topic: Neuroscience and Brain
Statistical signal processing, neural integration and coordination in sensorimotor systems, neural
mechanisms of plasticity and learning, computational neuroscience. Applications in
neuroinformatics, neuroprosthetics and brain-machine interfaces. Dr. Karim Oweiss’s lab is
interested in investigating how the activity of ensembles of neurons in the brain is integrated to
give rise to an observed behavior. To fulfill this mission, his group is working on engineering
advanced tools to simultaneously monitor the activity of single brain cells while subjects interact
naturally with their surroundings. These tools range from miniaturized implantable microsystems
that measure this microscale brain activity to sophisticated algorithms that process the activity to
identify critical neural circuits governing multiple functions we perform in our daily life. The
outcome of his research may help many people who suffer from multiple neurological diseases
and disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Epilepsy.
Education
Ph.D., University of Michigan 2002
M.Sc., University of Alexandria, Egypt 1996
B.Sc., University of Alexandria, Egypt 1993
(Anticipated start date of 8/16/14)
Dr. Jonathan Scheffe
Engineering/Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Topic: Renewable Energy and Storage
Dr. Jonathan Scheffe is a Senior Research Associate within the
Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zurich.
Since 2012 he has acted as Chair of the Solar Chemistry Committee of
the ASME Solar Energy Division and served as Editorial Board Member
for the Journal of CO2 Utilization. He received his B.S. in Biomedical
Engineering from North Carolina State University in 2005 and his Ph.D.
in Chemical Engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder in
2010. His research interests lie within the field of solar thermochemical
processes, specifically characterization and development of
thermochemical materials for solar fuel production and solar
thermochemical reactor design.
(Anticipated start date of 8/16/14)
Dr. Elizabeth Barton
Health and Health Professions/Applied
Physiology & Kinesiology
Topic: Skeletal Muscle Biology
Education
PhD, Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington, 1996 BA, Biophysics,
Wellesley College, 1987
Honors/Credentials
Joseph and Josephine Rabinowitz Award for Research Excellence, Penn Dental
Medicine, 2003
Harry Zimmerman Neuromuscular Disease Named-Research Fellowship, Muscular
Dystrophy Association, 1997-1999
Research Interests
Dr. Barton has been a member of the Penn Dental Medicine faculty since 2003. Her
research interests focus on muscle physiology, where she is studying mechanisms
of skeletal muscle repair and mechanical signal transduction through membrane
complexes. The ultimate goal is to develop therapies which can aid in muscle
disease and enhance repair after injury. Dr. Barton is the Course Director of
Physiology at Penn Dental Medicine and also teaches in Histology.
(Anticipated start date of 4/30/15)
Dr. Xiao-Guang
Liberal Arts & Sciences/Physics
Topic: Informatics for Engineered Systems and the
Physical Systems
Education:
BE, Polym. Material, Jilin Institute of Engineering, China, 1991
MS, Polymer Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, China,1994
PhD., Chemistry, Arizona State University, Tempe, 2001
Postdoc Research Associate, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2002 - 2004
Associate Research Scientist, Arizona State University, 2004 - 2009
Research Staff, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2009 - Present
Research Interests:
Synthesis of novel organic lithium salts, liquid and polymer electrolytes for
rechargeable lithium ion batteries and capacitors.
Electrochemical measurements and cell performance evaluation of Li ion batteries
and capacitors.
Surface modification of electrodes to improve coulomb efficiency as well as cycle
and calendar life of the Li-ion batteries and capacitors.
(Anticipated start date of 8/16/14)
Go
Informatics
Dr. William Hogan
Medicine/Health Outcomes
Topic: Biomedical Informatics
Hogan, 45, serves as director of biomedical informatics at UF's Clinical and
Translational Science Institute. He also is a faculty member within UF College of
Medicine's health outcomes and policy department.
Hogan oversees the institute's development of research and training programs,
which use big data to analyze and create patient-care solutions. Previously, he was
the head of the biomedical informatics division at the University of Arkansas for
Medical Sciences, Little Rock.
“The University of Florida understands that fundamental, paradigm-changing
transformations in how we collect, manage and apply information to society's
problems are not only necessary but close to a tipping point,” Hogan said in a news
release. “UF also has numerous, talented teams working in relative isolation on this
challenge, and so being given the opportunity to lead and coordinate these groups
toward a common goal is a privilege and tremendously exciting.”
(Anticipated start date of 6/1/14)
Dr. Steve Munger
Medicine/Pharmacology & Therapeutics
Topic: Neuroscience and Brain
Dr. Steve Munger completed his undergraduate studies in the Department of Biology at the
University of Virginia. He received his Ph.D. through the Whitney Laboratory and the
Department of Neuroscience at the University of Florida under the mentorship of Barry W. Ache.
Postdoctoral training was obtained in the laboratory of Randall Reed in the Howard Hughes
Medical Institutes of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Munger joined the
faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the Department of Anatomy and
Neurobiology in 2000. He is a member of the Programs in Neuroscience, Molecular Medicine,
and Biochemistry, as well as the Training Program in Chemosensory Neuroscience and the
Integrative Membrane Biology Training Program. Research in my laboratory is supported by
grants from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
Research Interests:
Mammals utilize several distinct populations of olfactory, vomeronasal and gustatory sensory
cells to detect chemical cues that contain important information about the quality of food, the
suitability of mates, and the presence of predators or competitors. Each of these cell populations
expresses distinct receptors, channels and transduction cascades. For example, different
populations of chemosensory neurons of the main olfactory epithelium and the vomeronasal
organ express at least three distinct families of chemosensory receptors and utilize very different
second messenger signaling systems upon receptor activation (Zufall and Munger, 2001). While
many of these molecules have been identified, surprisingly little is known about how these
various cell populations discriminate relevant chemical cues and why these tasks are distributed
across so many cell types. If we are to elucidate the neural mechanisms used by animals to
encode their chemical environment, it is essential that we understand how functional differences
arise from the diversity of transduction mechanisms, and how, in turn, these differences instruct
behavioral responses. The goal of our lab is to understand how the molecular diversity of G
protein-coupled transduction mechanisms both contributes to chemosensory function and impacts
ingestive and social behaviors.
(Anticipated start date of 9/1/14)
Dr. Lee Sweeney
Medicine/Pharmacology & Therapeutics
Topic: Neuroscience and Brain
Lee Sweeney, director of the Penn Center for Orphan Disease Research and
Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in
Philadelphia, was awarded an MDA research grant totaling $278,286 over a period
of three years to test whether a new treatment that affects muscle calcium can slow
the damage to muscle tissue in several forms of muscular dystrophy.
A common characteristic of several types of muscular dystrophy is loss of
regulation of calcium within muscle tissue. Calcium plays an important role in
muscle contraction, and the inability to keep its level well-regulated reduces the
force the muscle can generate, and contributes to muscle degeneration. Sweeney
has worked on the development and testing of a peptide (a short chain of amino
acids) called CT38, which helps correct the calcium handling defect in muscle. The
peptide has been shown to be safe in humans, and will now be tested in models
of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Miyoshi myopathy and myotonic muscular
dystrophy.
(Anticipated start date of 1/1/15)
Dr. Jatinder Lamba
Pharmacy
Topic: Metabolomics
Professional Appointments:
2000- 2006, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
2006- 2008, Research Associate, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee
July 2008 – Present, Assistant professor, Department of Experimental and Clinical
Pharmacology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Research Focus Areas:
Pharmacogenomics of Anticancer Drugs: Includes pathway directed
pharmacogenomics approach to study inter-patient variation in drug response to
chemotherapeutic agents as nucleoside analogs, platinating agents (funded by
Minnesota state partnership funds) monoclonal antibodies etc.
(Anticipated start date of 7/1/14)
Dr. Mattia Prosperi
Medicine/Public Health & Health
Professions/Epidemiology
Topic: Biomedical Informatics
Dr. Mattia Prosperi, M.Eng., Ph.D., is Lecturer in Biomedical Modelling at the
University of Manchester, UK.
Dr. Prosperi is currently team leader in the UK Health e-Research Centre (HeRC,
http://www.herc.ac.uk/), a large research grant awarded £18million from the MRC,
and co-PI/co-I in other research grants. HeRC is an interdisciplinary project in
health informatics and public health that spans a large area of research including
epidemiology, respiratory, and cancer medicine. His activities focus on the
exploitation of biomedical modeling towards translational science via a multi-level
approach, integrating large-scale, multi-source data (clinical, demographics,
environmental, laboratory, and beyond). He leads the development original
methods and applications, approaching machine learning from a rigorous statistical
point of view, designing prediction systems for personalized medicine, and
implementing software with optimized usability. He is also fostering Master and
PhD studentships to create a specialized workforce that will enable the University
of Manchester to excel in the next-generation bioinformatics.
Dr. Prosperi published -as first author- 20+ papers in peer-reviewed international
journals. His total publication record includes 65+ works. Among his hobbies, he
practices martial arts, likes cinema and literature.
(Anticipated start date of 1/1/15)
Dr. Faming Liang
Medicine/Public Health &
Health Professions/Biostatistics
Topic: Informatics for Life Sciences
Dr. Liang joins us after serving as Professor at Texas A&M University
for the past five years. Dr. Liang is a world renowned, leading
researcher in statistical computation. His scholarship has been
recognized through being elected fellow of American Statistical
Association and Institute of Mathematical Statistics . He is a highly
regarded educator with a record of excellence in research, teaching, and
distinction of being an illustrious speaker. Dr. Liang’s personal areas of
research are Big Data, Markov Chain Monte Carlo Methods,
Bioinformatics, Statistical Genetics, Stochastic Optimization, Spatial
Statistics and Machine Learning. We are thrilled to have Dr. Liang and
his family in our Gainesville community. The addition of such a
prominent scholar only strengthens the universities presence as one of
the leading institutions in biostatistics.
(Anticipated start date of 7/15/14)
Dr. Gordon Mitchell
Medicine/Public Health &
Health Professions/Physical Therapy
Topic: Neuroscience and Brain
Education
B.S. in Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine
Ph.D. in Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine
Research
The primary focus of the Mitchell laboratory concerns mechanisms of
neuroplasticity, specifically in the respiratory motor control system. We investigate
fundamental mechanisms of compensatory plasticity elicited by alterations in
respiratory gases (adult and developing animals), exercise, spinal injury or motor
neuron disease (ie. ALS). An emergent theme from our work is that serotonin is a
key molecule, initiating and orchestrating important forms of plasticity at the level
of respiratory motor nuclei. One important role of serotonin is to regulate the
synthesis of key proteins in the underlying plasticity, such as the neurotrophin brain
derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Our basic studies of respiratory plasticity may
yield novel insights concerning pathogenic mechanisms of respiratory control
disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea and sudden infant death syndrome. On
the other hand, our basic research has suggested novel strategies in the treatment of
sleep disordered breathing or respiratory insufficiency caused by cervical spinal
injury or motor neuron disease.
(Anticipated start date of 12/1/14)