Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

ECpE Distinguished Lecture Series 2007-08

Lecture title: "The Genographic Project: Computational Challenges and Progress"

Speaker: Ajay K. Royyuru, Senior Manager, Computational Biology Center, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center

Time: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Location: Howe Hall, Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium

Abstract: The Computational Biology Center at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center pursues basic and exploratory research at the interface of information technology and biology. Among the many exciting and collaborative research projects underway, perhaps the most visible one is the research collaboration with National Geographic Society to map and understand human migratory history. This population genetics project is ambitious and unique in its scope, presenting a number of compelling computational and analytical challenges. This talk will provide an overview of our current research in computational biology and highlight results from the Genographic project and few other projects pertaining to large scale simulations of biological systems.

Speaker biography: Ajay Royyuru heads the Computational Biology Center at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center, with research groups engaged in various projects including bioinformatics, structural biology, protein science and applications on Blue Gene, functional genomics, systems biology, and computational neuroscience. Ajay joined IBM Research in 1998, initiating research in structural biology. He obtained his PhD in molecular biology from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai (Bombay) and B.Sc. (Hons.) in human biology and M.Sc. in Biophysics from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Ajay did post-doctoral work in structural biology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Prior to joining IBM he spent two years developing structural biology software at Accelrys. Currently, his work focuses on collaborative research at the interface of information technology and biology. Working with biologists and institutions around the world, he is engaged in research and development of computer and software systems that will advance personalized, information-based medicine. Ajay leads the IBM Research teams working with National Geographic Society on the Genographic Project, and with The Scripps Research Institute on Project Checkmate. Ajay has authored numerous research publications in structural and computational biology. He is a member of professional societies ISCB and IEEE. His personal Web page is at www.research.ibm.com/people/r/royyuru and his research Web page is at www.research.ibm.com/compsci/compbio.