[Che-student-staff-list] Graduate Seminar Announcement - Dr. Shankar Subramaniam

[Mamph, Jennifer A]

Purdue University
School of Chemical Engineering
Graduate seminar series

Prof. Shankar Subramaniam
University of California at San Diego
"Engineering: the sine qua non for Systems Biology and Medicine"

April 9, 2013
9:00-10:15 a.m.
FRNY G140

Reception at 8:30 a.m. in Henson Atrium

Abstract:  The advent of high throughput technologies in biology has a significant challenge and a unique set of opportunities. The challenge lies in the integrative processing of the deluge of data in the context of functional biology. The opportunities are the ability to bring strong systems engineering approaches to bear on deciphering biological mechanisms and function and most importantly the ability to develop quantitative models of biological processes. Engineering has essentially become the harbinger for next generation biology in every aspect ranging from development of innovative technologies and devices to building systems-level quantitative models.
In this talk, I will highlight:

-       Aspects of new technology, especially one that is associated with next generation sequencing to obtain transcriptional parts lists and mass spectrometric methods for identifying metabolites in physiology.

-       Novel statistical learning approaches that transform data from measurements in knowledge in biology.

-       Insights into mechanisms in physiology that lead to normal and pathophysiology from applying engineering methods.

-       Building quantitative models of biological mechanisms and phenotypes and the implications for experimental biology.

I will also outline some engineering challenges in biology for the next coming decade involving the essential paradigms of analysis, design and modeling to biological systems.



Bio:  Shankar Subramaniam is a Professor of Bioengineering, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Medicine and Nano Engineering. He is currently the Chair of the Bioengineering Department at the University of California at San Diego.  He holds the inaugural Joan and Irwin Jacobs Endowed Chair in Bioengineering and Systems Biology. He was the Founding Director of the Bioinformatics Graduate Program at the University of California at San Diego.  He also has adjunct Professorships at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. He is a Professor at the Center for Cardiovascular Bioinformatics and Modeling at Johns Hopkins University and was a Guest Professor at the Center for Molecular Biology and Neuroscience at the University of Oslo in Norway.  Prior to moving to UC San Diego, Dr. Subramaniam was a Professor of Biophysics, Biochemistry, Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Chemical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).  He was the Director of the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Program at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and the Co-Director of the W.M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics at UIUC.  He is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and is a recipient of Smithsonian Foundation and Association of Laboratory Automation Awards and his research work is described below. In 2002 he received the Genome Technology All Star Award. In 2008 he was awarded the Faculty Excellence in Research Award at the University of California at San Diego. In 2011 he was appointed as a Distinguished Scientist at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. His research spans several areas of bioinformatics and systems biology.
     Dr. Subramaniam has played a key role in raising national awareness for training and research in bioinformatics.  He served as a member of the National Institute for Health (NIH) Director's Advisory Committee on Bioinformatics, which resulted in the BIOMEDICAL INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE (BISTI) report.  The report recognized the dire need for trained professionals in Bioinformatics and recommended the launching of a strong NIH funding initiative.  Dr. Subramaniam served as the Chair of a NIH BISTI Study Section; also served on Bioinformatics and Biotechnology Advisory Councils for Virginia Tech, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and on the Scientific Advisory Board of several Biotech and Bioinformatics Companies.  Dr. Subramaniam has served as a member of the State of Illinois Governor's initiative in Biotechnology and an advisor and reviewer of the State of North Carolina initiative in Biotechnology.  He is currently an overseas advisor for the Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India, and a member of a European Science Foundation Panel.

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