Bioinformatics Program
by
Anne Clough
Marquette University and Medical College of Wisconsin have
recently announced a new joint program leading to a Master of Science in
Bioinformatics. The program was formally approved during the summer of 2001 and
graduate students were accepted into the program beginning with the Fall 2001
semester. Although the program is
administered through the Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science
department at MU, it is an inter-institutional, interdisciplinary program in
which students take courses at both institutions in subject areas such as
computer science, biology, physiology, genetics, statistics, and engineering.
Bioinformatics, a subset of computational biology, is the study
and practice of applying quantitative analysis tools to data obtained from
biological experiments. The goal is to gain insight into biological and genetic
function and structure using sophisticated theoretical models. Upon successful
completion of the program, graduates will be equipped to create
state-of-the-art computing applications for the biomedical sciences. The
program is designed to accommodate either part-time or full-time students, with
either a strong computer science or basic science undergraduate degree.
The development of this program was led by Dr. Peter Tonellato, a
long-time faculty member in MSCS, who is now a full-time faculty member at
Medical College of Wisconsin. As the director of the Bioinformatics Research
Center at MCW, his research is aimed at collecting, analyzing, annotating, and
presenting genetic data as well as performing advanced pattern-based
probability studies for gene discovery, mapping and function
identification. In addition, Dr. Craig
Struble joined the MSCS department from Virginia Tech this summer. He also is
interested in computational issues that arise in genetic mapping.
The
co-directors for the program are Dr. Anne Clough (MU) and Dr. Peter Tonellato
(MCW). For further information, please
visit the program's website (http://www.brc.mcw.edu/AP)
or send email to Anne Clough at clough@mscs.mu.edu. Application information and materials can be
obtained directly from www.marquette.edu/grad/.
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Newsletter is written by students and faculty for almuni of the Department of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI USA 53201-1881