Discovering Cures through Probabilities
His colleagues outside UA Little Rock say Dr. Daniel Berleant is a pioneer in the relatively new field of bioinformatics, which uses computer science to cure diseases and solve problems in other fields. Berleant is one of the world’s leading experts in imprecise probabilities.
“In my opinion, this is one of the most important research areas (in the field),” said Dr. Vladik Kreinovich, professor of computing science at the University of Texas at El Paso. “Indeed, the ultimate purpose of the most creative activity is to make a decision. In biomedical research, our objective is to prevent and cure diseases. To make decisions, we need to know the state of the world.”
He has developed tools that are used by researchers and practitioners, and his theoretical papers containing the foundations of his techniques for imprecise probability and interval computation communities are widely cited. He has been active in the area since the 1990s.
“Dr. Berleant’s bioinformatics research has enabled novel and interesting synergies in the field of plant genomics by use of text minding,” said Dr. Eve Wurtele of Iowa State’s bioinformatics and genetics programs.
He is the author of 38 journal articles, 10 since 2007. His paper in the Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing has garnered 180 citations and continues to be cited regularly. The seven active grants he has had since 2007 total $2 million.
Berleant, who came to UA Little Rock in 2006, earned a B.S. degree in computing science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1982 and an M.S. degree in 1990 and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991.