Dr. Mary Yang, Professor of Information Science and Director of the Midsouth Bioinformatics Center at UA Little Rock, has received $443,854 from the National Institutes of Health to develop unique deep learning methods to identify key cell networks in complex diseases. This knowledge will help doctors and scientists further understand how complex diseases evolve and develop in the body, and how to identify effective drug targets. Yang’s deep learning model focuses on developing high-resolution single-cell genomic analytics techniques to capture cell differences with detail and clarity. By clearly characterizing cell differences, scientists can better identify cells that cause diseases to advance and evolve. This technique will allow more specialized, targeted treatments to different cells in the body.
Yang will supervise undergraduate students from different disciplines as well as graduate students in the joint UALR-UAMS Bioinformatics program during this project.
“The project will serve as a vehicle to equip undergraduate and graduate students with essential research skills and interdisciplinary knowledge, and to stimulate the students’ ambition to pursue careers in biomedical science,” Yang said.
The MidSouth Bioinformatics Center at UA Little Rock provides extensive bioscience computational resources and training to faculty, staff, and students in the region.
Research reported was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R15GM137288. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
