BioInfoSummer2011: Teachers Day
6 December 2011
Gene Technology Access Centre (GTAC), Melbourne
Molecular Evolution and Comparative Genomics for Teachers
Do you have students with interest and ability in biology, chemistry, physics, programming or mathematics?
Find out more about the exciting field of BioInformatics.
A program for teachers of biology and mathematics will be offered as part of BioInfoSummer 2011
Cost: $50 To register: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 9340 3600
| Time |
Biology Teachers |
Mathematics Teachers |
| 8:40 |
Registration |
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| 09:00 | Introductory Bioinformatics Part 1 Prof. Terry Speed (WEHI) In this lecture theories and methods for studying evolution at a molecular level, based on biomolecular sequence data, will be covered. |
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| 10:00 |
Morning Tea - Multifunction Space |
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| 10:30 |
Workshop: Phylogenetics Using FOXP2 as an example
Dr. Helen Lindsay (WEHI)
This workshop reflects the morning lecture and provides attendees with hands-on practice of basic phylogenetic analysis. |
Introductory Bioinformatics Part 2 This session will give an overview of the computational methods used in the Human Genome Project, some computational problems faced in the study of human genomics, and the possible impact of this study on society and medicine. |
| 11:30 |
Mechanics of Biological Sequence Comparison
Needleman-Wunsch and Smith-Waterman algorithms have been the bread-and-butter for comparing biological sequences: DNA, RNA and Proteins. This one-hour talk will provide an overview of the general concepts that underlie these algorithms.
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| 12:30 |
VLSCI Lunch - Valente Room |
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13:30 |
Workshop: Online Bioinformatics tasks for VCE Biology Tony Chiovitti (GTAC) This workshop will introduce Biology Teachers to novel bioinformatics tasks exploring molecular homology in evolution and protein structure. These tasks will become available on the GTAC website in 2012. |
Workshop: Phylogenetics Using FOXP2 as an example Dr. Helen Lindsay (WEHI)
This workshop reflects the morning lectures and provides attendees with hands-on practice of basic phylogenetic analysis. |
| 15:30 | End of Teachers Day | |
| 16:00 | Keynote address | |
4:00 pm Keynote address
The keynote lecture is not part of the formal teacher program but teacher registrants are welcome to attend.
Dr. Kathryn Holt
Microevolution as a forensic tool – tracking the spread of typhoid and dysentery
Microevolution is the accumulation of genetic variation within a population. Some of this variation has functional consequences and can be used to learn more about the organism in question, however much of it is neutral and can be used to track populations through space and time. In this talk, I will discuss how studies of genetic variation, through high throughput sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, are being used to learn more about populations of bacteria that cause disease in humans, in particular Salmonella typhi (typhoid) and Shigella sonnei (dysentery). In particular, I will discuss how this approach is revealing novel insights into the evolution and dissemination of antibiotic resistance, and how bacterial pathogens spread through space and time at both local and global scales.
Speaker information:
Professor Terry Speed, Head of Bioinformatics Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI)
Terry Speed's research and teaching interests have concerned the application of statistics to genetics and molecular biology. He studied at Monash University and has taught mathematics and statistics in universities in Australia and overseas. He has worked at CSIRO and for many years shared his time between University of California at Berkeley and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne. Now Head of the Bioinformatics division at WEHI, Terry's work includes biomolecular sequence analysis, the mapping of genes in experimental animals and humans and functional genomics.
Doctor Christina Boucher, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Computer Science & Engineering, University of California, San Diego
Christina Boucher received her PhD from the University of Waterloo in 2010. She started working in the bioinformatics as a research assistant at the Montreal General Hospital, where she analysed HIV-1 protease inhibitor drugs. She is now a NSERC Post-doctorate Fellow at the University of California, San Diego working on algorithms related to genome sequencing and mass spectrometry and is interested in developing ways to incorporate bioinformatics into the high-school biology curriculum.
Doctor Helen Lindsay, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI)
Helen studied mathematics and biology at the University of Newcastle, before moving to ANU to complete a PhD in molecular evolution. Her PhD research aimed to explain why males evolve faster than females. Helen now works on understanding patterns of gene expression at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.
Doctor Arun Konagurthu, Monash Larkins Fellow, Academic Faculty School of Computer Science and Information Technology Monash University
Arun is an academic faculty member and a Larkins Fellow at Monash University. He received a PhD in Computer Science from University of Melbourne in 2006. He worked as an Eberly College of Science Postdoctoral Scholar at the Pennsylvania State University. Arun joined Monash's Clayton School of Computer Science and Information Technology in 2010 where works in Computational Biology, with primary research focus on protein structural bioinformatics
Dr. Kathryn Holt
Kathryn completed her PhD in molecular biology at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Melbourne, using high throughput sequencing and SNP typing to study evolution and transmission of bacterial pathogens.
Sponsors
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