Cluster Lead:
Tremendous progress has been made over the past three decades in unlocking the mysteries of life. This progress has been driven by a combination of advances in technologies that enable the sequencing of biomolecules (DNA/Protein) and the development of efficient computational algorithms to analyze the large quantities of data generated by these technologies. These advances have allowed us to decipher the genomes of thousands of species and provided significant insights into the inner workings of cells. The study of biological systems and their genomes is an interdisciplinary research area, and progress has been driven by contributions from both biological and mathematical sciences.
The Genomics and Bioinformatics Cluster (GBC) was created to inspire cross-cutting research that leverages UCF’s strengths in medicine, evolution and ecology, and computer science. GBC faculty use genomic tools to address research questions in a wide range of areas in the biological domain, including (i) monitoring biodiversity and understanding how it is impacted by environmental factors, (ii) studying the evolution and spread of infectious diseases, (iii) understanding the genetic basis of different cancers, (iv) predicting drug responses, and (v) understanding the structure and function of microbial ecosystems. On the computational front, research focus areas include combinatorial algorithms, machine learning and AI to enable efficient analysis of big data in genomics.
UCF Colleges Involved with Genomics and Bioinformatics Research:
In The News
Genomics and Bioinformatics Research
Projects
Publications
- “Bacterial associations in the healthy human gut microbiome across populations”, ., Scientific Reports: Sep, 2020
- “Pulmonary Microbiome of Patients Receiving Mechanical Ventilation: Changes Over Time”, ., Am J Crit Care: Mar, 2021
- “Peroxidized Linoleic Acid, 13-HPODE, Alters Gene Expression Profile in Intestinal Epithelial Cells”, ., Foods: Feb, 2021
- “Identification of Nasal Gammaproteobacteria with Potent Activity against Staphylococcus aureus: Novel Insights into the "Noncarrier" State”, ., mSphere: Jan, 2021
- “Genomic and morphological evidence of distinct populations in the endemic common (weedy) seadragon Phyllopteryx taeniolatus (Syngnathidae) along the east coast of Australia”, ., PloS One: Dec, 2020
- “Building a global genomics observatory: Using GEOME (the Genomic Observatories Metadatabase) to expedite and improve deposition and retrieval of genetic data and metadata for biodiversity research”, ., Molecular Ecology Resources: Oct, 2020
- “Bacterial community structure alterations within the colorectal cancer gut microbiome”, ., BMC Microbiology: Mar, 2021
- “Does color matter? Molecular and ecological divergence in four sympatric color morphs of a coral reef fish”, ., Ecology and Evolution: Sep, 2020
- “Pulse magnetization elicits differential gene expression in the central nervous system of the Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus”, ., Journal of Comparative Physiology A 1-18: Jun, 2020
- “ Population genomic response to geographic gradients by widespread and endemic fishes of the Arabian Peninsula”, ., Ecology and Evolution: Apr, 2020
- “The physiology of rapid ecological specialization: A look at the Midas cichlids”, ., Molecular Ecology: Mar, 2020
- “A practical guide to sample preservation and pre‐PCR processing of aquatic environmental DNA”, ., Molecular Ecology Resources: Oct, 2019
- “Platform-integrated mRNA isoform quantification”, ., Bioinformatics Volume 36, Issue 8: Apr, 2020
- “Learning a mixture of microbial networks using minorization–maximization”, ., Bioinformatics Volume 35, Issue 14: Jul, 2019
- “Evolutionary Model of Cluster Divergence of the Emergent Marine Pathogen Vibrio vulnificus: From Genotype to Ecotype”, ., mBio: Feb, 2019
Genomics and Bioinformatics Faculty
-
Salvador Almagro-Moreno, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences -
Taj Azarian, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences -
Charissa de Bekker, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology -
Robert Fitak, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology -
Anna Forsman, Ph.D.
Assistant Research Scientist of Biology -
Michelle Gaither, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology -
Carmen Giurgescu, Ph.D.
Professor of Nursing -
Eric Hoffman, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology -
Annette Khaled, Ph.D.
Professor of Biomedical Sciences -
Sean Moore, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences -
Anna Savage, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology -
Sharma Thankachan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Computer Science -
Shibu Yooseph, Ph.D.
Professor of Computer Science -
Shaojie Zhang, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Computer Science -
Wei Zhang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Computer Science