Bioinformatics

BIOGRAPHY

ACADEMIC POSITIONS:
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
• Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

EDUCATION:
• MS, Biochemistry, Moscow State University
• PhD, Molecular Biophysics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

RESEARCH INTERESTS:
We are interested in understanding proteins by means of theoretical methods. The research areas cover (but are not limited to):

• Sequence and structure classification
• Protein structure prediction
• Molecular evolution
• Construction and analysis of multiple sequence and structural alignments
• Analysis of genomic data
• Sequence-structure-function relationship in protein families

The ultimate objective of protein computational biology is to classify available sequence-structure data into a biologically relevant, hierarchical system analogous to the one currently used in zoology and botany. Since sequence and structural similarities usually imply functional similarity, such classification is of indispensable value for biologists to aid in experimental design.

Our group combines sequence and structure analysis with evolutionary considerations to facilitate discoveries of biological significance. Two major directions are pursued: (i) development of new mathematical approaches for analysis of protein sequence-structure data; and (ii) implementation of available tools for solving biological problems by computer analysis.