Bayesian networks for analyzing complex biological systems

by

Anne Smith
School of Biology
University of St Andrews
Scotland

Friday, March 7, 2008
12:00 lunch
12:15 seminar
402 Walter Library

http://biology.st-andrews.ac.uk/vannesmithlab

Network inference algorithms, and in particular Bayesian networks algorithms, are being applied with growing regularity in computational molecular biology to recover gene regulatory networks from gene expression data. However, the basic task at hand — to predict causal relationships based on repeated concurrent measurements of multiple variables — is not necessarily limited to the molecular realm. Here, I present my research on using Bayesian network inference algorithms to recover networks on several different levels of biological organization: genes, neurons, and ecosystems.

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Speaker bio:
I am an Academic Fellow in the School of Biology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. My research is in the field of computational biology. I examine complex biological networks, developing and evaluating algorithms to infer functional interactions based upon observational data.

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