2009 Research Highlights

Studied the functional role of IGF2BP2 and HMGA2 in adipocyte tissue and Type 2 Diabetes.

Resolved conflicts between phylogenetic groupings and existing taxonomic nomenclature to improve classification accuracy of genetic sequences in the order of bacteria known as Clostridiales.

Explored the effect that ploidy – the number of sets of chromosomes in a cell -- has on the genetic analysis of yeasts.

Worked on a method that utilizes comparative genomics to help predict functional relationships between genes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and related organisms.

Utilized HDACi to induce expression of drug metabolizing enzyme genes in liver cell lines with the goal of creating a more efficient and cost-effective human liver model for drug toxicity screening.

Discovered a common scaffold that recognizes Npas4, a regulator of inhibitory synapses development.

Developed statistical methods to filter out false positive SNPs from calls made by high-throughput sequencers for the 1000 Genomes Project.

Found evidence to suggest that microtubule inhibitors have effects on cancer cells beyond simply inhibiting structural elements; in fact, these commonly used chemotherapy drugs seemed to alter aspects of energy metabolism.