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                    BIOINFORMATICS COLLOQUIUM
               School of Computational Sciences
                    George Mason University
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             Comparative genomics of malaria parasites

                      Jane M. Carlton, Ph.D.
               The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR)
                       Rockville, Maryland

                 Tuesday, October 18, 2005
                             4:30 pm
           Verizon Auditorium, Prince William Campus
 
 
                            Abstract

The availability of whole genome sequence data for an increasingly 
large number of microorganisms is beginning to transform the way that 
studies into infectious disease are being carried out. Whereas prior to 
the genomics revolution investigators worked with a limited number of 
genes and thus could only perform small-scale studies to determine 
evolutionary forces on a micro-scale, access to the complete gene 
complement of an organism will now enable a scaling-up of such analyses 
to encompass genome-wide studies of gene evolution. The sequencing of 
eukaryotic genomes has lagged behind sequencing of organisms in the 
other domains of life, archae and bacteria, but recent initiatives have 
begun to reverse this trend, especially in the field of tropical 
disease pathogen genome sequencing. Four species of Plasmodium, the 
infectious agent that causes the disease malaria, are in the closing 
stages of sequencing, and four have been published, representing one of 
the largest datasets for a single eukaryotic pathogen. My work takes 
advantage of this large amount of data from a pathogen that is a 
serious threat to human health, and by using comparative genomics, 
evolutionary biology and population genetics, aims to address broad 
evolutionary questions that may be of relevance to other infectious 
diseases.

                              BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Carlton received her Ph.D. in Genetics at the University of 
Edinburgh in 1995, and after four years of postdoctoral studies, 
obtained a junior faculty position at the University of Florida. After 
a period of bioinformatics training at the Computational Biology Branch 
at NCBI, NIH, she moved to her current faculty position at TIGR in 
2001. Her main area of research is comparative genomics of parasites, 
in particular species of human malaria parasite such as Plasmodium 
falciparum and model rodent Plasmodium species, as well as other 
disease causing pathogens such as Theileria and Cryptosporidium. She is 
currently leading the genome sequencing and comparative analysis of the 
Plasmodium vivax parasite, and of the sexually transmitted human 
parasite Trichomonas vaginalis. 

Dr. Carlton has a keen interest in training scientists in developing 
countries to make use of genome sequence data generated by sequencing 
centers as TIGR. She has taught at several W.H.O/World Bank/UNDP 
sponsored bioinformatics workshops in Africa and Brazil, as well as 
mentoring African M.S. students. Currently she is involved in several 
projects to bring developing country scientists to TIGR for a period of 
training in genomics and bioinformatics.

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Refreshments are served at 4:00 pm. Find the schedule and directions at
http://www.binf.gmu.edu/colloq.html