Bioinformatics Colloquium

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Distinguished speakers are invited to present their research in our weekly Bioinformatics Colloquium as special seminars or lectures posted below for the current academic year. Talks, tutorials, and workshops for professional training on other Fridays, primarily for bioinformatics students, will be announced via emails. To join our mailing list, please contact us at bioinformatics@utep.edu.

2026-2027:

October 23, 2026

Dr. Renfeng Li, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Pittsburgh

Title: ASB13 Restricts EBV Reactivation by Targeting SYK to Suppress B Cell Receptor Signaling

Time: 10:00 a.m.

Place: Bell Hall 143

Remote: https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/82901391798

Hosted by Dr. Chuan (River) Xiao, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UTEP

**October 16, 2026**
Dr. Zuber Mulla, Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Executive Director of Faculty Development, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, Texas
Title: Beyond Prediction: AI, Public Health, and the Search for Causes
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Place: Bell Hall 143
Remote: https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/82901391798
Hosted by Dr. Anass Bouchnita, Department of Mathematical Sciences, UTEP

*2025-2026*:
April 24, 2026 Dr. Gilchan Park, Computational Scientist, AI Department, Computing and Data Sciences, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY
Title: Getting the Most out of Published Science with Machine Learning
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Remote: Please click here to pre-register for the Zoom meeting
(We acknowledge the Sustainable Horizons Institute and DOE national laboratories for organizing this Computational Research Leadership Council Seminar Series.)

April 10, 2026 Dr. Jaideep Ray, Data Science & Analytics Sandia National Laboratory, Livermore, CA
Title: AI and Exascale for Epidemiology - Preparing for the Next Pandemic
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Remote: Please click here to pre-register for the Zoom meeting
(We acknowledge the Sustainable Horizons Institute and DOE national laboratories for organizing this Computational Research Leadership Council Seminar Series.)

Febraury 27, 2026 Dr. Tadesse Abegaz, Assistant Professor of Research, Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, UTEP
Title: Leveraging the All of Us Research Program Data to Improve Chronic Disease Prediction Using Artificial Intelligence
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Place: Bell Hall 143
Remote: https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/82901391798

October 3, 2025 Dr. AmirHosein Sadeghimanesh, Assistant Professor, Center for Computational Science and Mathematical Modelling, Coventry University, Coventry, UK
Title: Designing Machine Learning Tools to Characterize Multistationarity of Fully Open Reaction Networks
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Remote: https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/82901391798
Hosted by Dr. Anass Bouchnita, Department of Mathematical Sciences, UTEP

2024-2025:
February 28, 2025 Dr. Pravindra Kumar, Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India
Title: Structural Insights into the Biodegradation Mechanisms of Plasticizers
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
Remote: https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/82901391798
Hosted by Dr. Mahesh Narayan, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UTEP

February 7, 2025 Dr. Byung-Jun Yoon, Scientist, Department of Applied Mathematics, Computing and Data Sciences, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY, and Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Title: Enabling Small-Data AI for Science
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Remote: Please click here to pre-register for the Zoom meeting
(We acknowledge the Sustainable Horizons Institute and DOE national laboratories for organizing this Computational Research Leadership Council Seminar Series.)

January 24, 2025 Dr. Guowei Wei, MSU Research Foundation Professor, Department of Mathematics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Title: The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematical AI in Biosciences
Time: 3:00 p.m.; Place: Biosciences Research Building 2.168
Remote: https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/87220236692
Hosted by Dr. Lin Li, Department of Physics, and Dr. Ming-Ying Leung, Department of Mathematical Sciences, UTEP
This presentation is part of the Mathematical Sciences and Bioinformatics 2025 Colloquium Series and is supported by the Fessinger-Springer and Margo Louise Springer Memorial Lectureship endowment.

November 15, 2024 Dr. Chongming Jiang, Assistant Professor, Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Los Angeles, CA
Title: Immunomics and AI Machine Learning in Medical Immunology
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
Remote: https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/82901391798
Hosted by Dr. Cai Xu, Bioinformatics Program, UTEP

November 8, 2024 Dr. Jianming Qiu, Professor, Department of Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
Title: Human Parvovirus Replication and Vector Delivery in Airway Epithelia
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
Remote: https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/82901391798
Hosted by Dr. Chuan Xiao, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UTEP

October 18, 2024 Dr. Shailly Tomar, Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee - 247667, Uttarakhand, India
Title: Dual Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro for Enhanced Antiviral Efficacy and Immune Restoration
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
Remote: https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/82901391798
Hosted by Dr. Mahesh Narayan, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UTEP

2023-2024:
August 15, 2024 (Thursday) Dr. Daniel G. S. Capelluto, Associate Professor, Protein Signaling Domains Laboratory (Capelluto Lab), Department of Biological Sciences, Fralin Life Sciences Institute, and Center for Soft Matter and Biological Physics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Title: Insights into the Structure and Regulation of Endosomal Cargo Transporters
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
Remote: https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/84309137130
Hosted by Dr. Chuan Xiao, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UTEP

April 19, 2024 Dr. Silvia Crivelli, Program Manager, Applied Computing For Scientific Discovery Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA
Title: AI for Healthcare and Biomedicine
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Remote: Please click here to pre-register for the Zoom meeting
(We acknowledge the Sustainable Horizons Institute and DOE national laboratories for organizing this Computational Research Leadership Council Seminar Series.)

December 1, 2023 Dr. Jean-Pierre Llored, Associate Professor, Ecole Centrale Casablanca, Morocco, and Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Ecole CentraleSupélec, France
Title: Reflecting on AI: Some Historical, Epistemological and Ethical Insights
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Remote: Click on this link to join via Zoom
Hosted by Dr. Anass Bouchnita, Department of Mathematical Sciences, UTEP

Dr. Yi He

November 10, 2023 Dr. Yi He, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, College of Art and Science, and Associate Director, Center for Computational Chemistry, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
*Title: In Silico* Modeling of PICK1 Protein Dynamics and Interactions: Pathway to Peptide-based Therapies for Substance Use Disorders**
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
Hosted by Dr. Lin Li, Department of Physics, UTEP
(Also available remotely: Click on this link to join via Zoom)

Dr. Joshua N. Adkins

October 29, 2023 Dr. Joshua N. Adkins, Laboratory Fellow and HHS Sector Manager
Title: The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and its NIH Programs
Dr. Christopher S. Oehmen, Group Leader, Computational Biology, Biological Sciences Division.
Title: Biological sciences as a bridge to broad applications
Dr. Ernesto Nakayasu, Novel ubiquitination pathways in host-pathogen interactions
Title: Novel ubiquitination pathways in host-pathogen interactions
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
(Also available remotely: Click on this link to join via Zoom)

Dr. Cai Xu
September 29, 2023 Dr. Cai Xu, Assistant Professor of Research, Bioinformatics Program and Border Biomedical Research Center, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas
Title: Opportunities at the Intersection of Patient Reported Outcomes and Artificial Intelligence
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
(Also available remotely: Click on this link to join via Zoom)

Dr. Ray Luo
2022-2023:
April 21, 2023 Dr. Ray Luo, Professor of Structural Biology/Biochemistry/Biophysics, Chemical and Materials Physics, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering, Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA
Title: Biomolecular Simulation: Methodology Advancements and Applications
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
Hosted by Dr. Lin Li, Department of Physics, UTEP
(Also available remotely: Click on this link to join via Zoom)

Dr. Weitao Chen
March 24, 2023 Dr. Weitao Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, Interdisciplinary Center for Quantitative Modeling in Biology (ICQMB), University of California, Riverside, CA
Title: Multiscale Modeling to Understand Mechanisms of Robustness of Stem Cell Maintenance.
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
Hosted by Dr. Anass Bouchnita, Department of Mathematical Sciences, UTEP
(Also available remotely: Click on this link to join via Zoom)

Dr. Shan Zhao
February 17, 2023 Dr. Shan Zhao, Professor, Department of Mathematics, The University of Alabama,Tuscaloosa, AL
Title: Numerical Algorithm Developments for the Poisson-Boltzmann Models in Biomolecular Electrostatics
Time: 10:00 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
Hosted by Dr. Lin Li, Department of Physics, UTEP
(Also available remotely: Click on this link to join via Zoom)

Dr. Jay Lofstead

February 3, 2023

Dr. Jay Lofstead, Principal Member of Technical Staff, Department of Scalable System Software, Center for Computing Research, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

Title: Ethics in Machine Learning

Time
Time: 10:00 a.m. Remote only: Please pre-register at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86141583206

Dr. Arvind Ramanathan
January 27, 2023 Dr. Arvind Ramanathan, Computational Biologist, Data Science and Learning Division, Argonne National Laboratory, and Senior Scientist, University of Chicago Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering (CASE), Lemont, IL
Title: AI-driven multi-scale simulations for COVID-19 drug discovery
Time: 10:00 a.m. Remote only: Please pre-register at https://www.utep.edu/science/bioinformatics/colloquium/zoom

Kumar Sharma, M.D.
September 9, 2022 Kumar Sharma, M.D., Hillis Endowed Distinguished Chair in Medicine, Director, Center for Precision Medicine, Chief, Division of Nephrology, and Vice Chair of Research, Department of Medicine, The University of Texas Health San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas
Title: Multi-omic Analysis of Kidney Disease for Precision Medicine
Time: 1:30 p.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143
(Also available remotely at https://utep-edu.zoom.us/j/81575107921)

Dr. Liang Ma
2021-2022:
April 8, 2022 Dr. Liang Ma, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas
Title:	Functional Genomics Studies of Human Brain Diseases
Time:	10:00 a.m.; Virtual: Click on this link to join via Zoom

Dr. George Luta
March 4, 2022 Dr. George Luta, Professor, Department of Biostatistics, Bioinformatics and Biomathematics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Title:	Statistical Methods to Construct Confidence Intervals for Measures of Health Disparities
Time:	3:00 p.m.; Virtual: Click on this link to join via Zoom
(Co-hosted with the Department of Mathematical Sciences, UTEP)

Dr. Sam Jacobs
October 22, 2021 Dr. Sam Jacobs, Computer Scientist, Center for Applied Scientific Computing, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California
Title:	Learning and Learning to Learn at Scale
Time:	10:30 a.m.; Virtual: Please click to register for remote access

Dr. Chunqiang Li
2019-2020: Colloquium Chair: Chuan "River" Xiao, Department of Chemistry
October 25, 2019 Dr. Chunqiang Li, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, UTEP
Title:	Deep Learning Based Object Detection and Semantic Segmentation in Biomedical Imaging
Time:	10:30 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143

Dr. Graciela Gonzalez-Hernandez
October 11, 2019 Dr. Graciela Gonzalez-Hernandez, Associate Professor of Informatics, Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Title:	Myths and Misconceptions: Social Media Mining for Health Research
Time:	2:00 p.m.; Place: CCSB 1.0202
(Hosted by Department of Computer Science, UTEP)

Dr. Emil Alexov
October 4, 2019 Dr. Emil Alexov, Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC
Title:	Modeling the Role of Electrostatics in Macromolecular Recognition
Time:	10:30 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143

Dr. Jun Wang
September 13, 2019 Dr. Jun Wang, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Title:	Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology of Antivirals Targeting Drug-resistant and Emerging Viruses
Time:	10:30 a.m.; Place: Bell Hall 143

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