Research
It is intrinsic to the MyCIB philosophy to conduct research through collaboration. We also wish to contribute to data and information standards so that integrative biology modeling development can proceed more efficiently.
Staff Research Interests
Professor Charlie Hodgman
Professor Charlie Hodgman has a longstanding reputation for elucidating the structure and function of biomolecular sequences. Orginally this was primarily at the protein sequence level, but more recently it concerns gene regulatory regions and multimolecular complexes.
I have been promoting Integrative Systems Biology since I joined GlaxoWellcome in 1995, paying particular emphasis on the development of informatics approaches to turn what is an otherwise manual-developed industry into an industrial process in which representative models can be generated automatically. This will be necessary if bio-systems modelling is to keep pace with the rate of data generation. Owing to my diverse background, I am not wedded to any particular branch of the life sciences and welcome collaborative projects where they are of most benefit, especially with industry.
Specific Projects
Director of the Centre of Plant Integrative Biology CPIB.
Software pipelines for:
1. increasing the productivity of biopharmaceutical development.
2. elucidation of changes in biological function arising from single nucleotide polymorphisms.
3. in silico cDNA cloning from expressed sequence tags.
Holistic biological network models of various organisms, including Arabidopsis, Dog, Cow, Haloferax, Tea and Wheat.
Data acquisition and the development of dynamic models of plant root growth.
Web services for network construction and feature detection and gene regulatory region analysis.
Predictive tools to support biopharmaceutical development.
Click on the following link to view Professor Charlie Hodgman's publications.
Contact Professor Charlie Hodgman:
Associate professor Dov Stekel
We use mathematical, computing and statistical techniques to build predictive models for biological systems, with the aims of best interpretation of experimental data, deepening our understanding of how biological systems work, and helping to inform the design of future experimental work.
We use a wide variety of techniques, including differential equations, stochastic models, multi-scale models, artificial life, computer evolution, statistical analysis and bioinformatics analysis. We try, where possible, to work on projects with active collaborations with experimental biologists. We have a particular interest in the integration of experimental data, data quality and mechanistic hyptheses through the combined use of dynamical models with Bayesian inference. At the moment, many of the biological applications of our work are in microbiology, including pathogenic E. coli strains, bioluminescent reporters, the antibiotic-resistance bearing RK2 plasmids and the use of Biolog Phenotype arrays in brewing, bioenergy and food safety applications. However, we are happy to foster collaborations with scientists working in any area of biology, and this range of applications is reflected in our publications.
Click on the following link to view Dr Stekel's publications.
Contact Dr Dov Stekel:
Dr. Chungui Lu
Dr Chungui Lu graduated with an MSc in Plant Science from Yangzhou University, China in 1992. He gained a Ph.D.
in Plant Molecular Biology from the University of Nottingham in 1999. Following positions at the University of
Wales in Bangor, Rothamsted Research and the University of Bristol he took up his current post as Lecturer in
Integrative Biology in 2006.
Dr Lu's current research concentrates of the use of post-genomic technologies (cDNA microarray,
Affymetrix) to monitor expression profiles and patterns of wheat genes under cold stress (freezing-tolerance
and vernalization) and different level nitrogen fertiliser. He also has an on-going interest in the study the
roles of miRNAs in controlling the regulation of nitrogen assimilation in organic and inorganic crops. Dr. Lu
has developed a highly efficient 2-step single cell RT-PCR technique (SC-RT-PCR) and is in the process of
developing single-cell microarray analysis which will provide a powerful tool for functional genomic
characterisation of the many signaling pathways that function in plant cell and provide a basis for cell
type specific genomic scale analyses of gene function. Dr Lu's current research interests include Wheat Vernalisation, Tomato ripening and Human Cancer research.
Contact Dr Chungui Lu:
Dr Jaume Bacardit
Dr Jaume Bacardit is part of both the Automated Scheduling, Optimization and Planning (ASAP) research group
and MyCIB Centre.
Dr Bacardit is a Lecturer in Bioinformatics has been jointly appointed between the Schools of Computer Science and Biosciences of the University of Nottingham. His role is to facilitate and encourage interdisciplinary research involving both schools.
Click on the following link to view Dr Bacardit's homepage and publications.
Contact Dr Jaume Bacardit: