It is my hope to find a dissertation topic in the field of bioinformatics. I am currently working with my advisor, Dr. Gordon K. Springer, on a swine genomics project. The project is funded through a contract with Monsanto and is led by investigators in Animal Sciences.
I believe my background in general Computer Science is strong, as I have taken approximately 99 hours of total CS or CECS courses and research here at the University of Missouri. I also feel my background in Mathematics and Statistics is sufficient to do research in the bioinformatics field. In addition to formal coursework, I have been fortunate to be part of the National Library of Medicine's Predoctoral Fellowship in Health Informatics. I feel that this fellowship has been instrumental in leading me to an interest in bioinformatics, and in preparing me to begin research in that field.
In addition to academic work, I have 12 years of professional experience. For the past 9 years, I have been employed by various organizations as a developer and/or manager of developers of commercial software. I currently am providing software development services under contracts to Engineering Animations, Inc. and Qwest Internet Solutions.
I do feel that it would be extremely helpful to me to gain some formal training in biology and chemistry. However, the courses I would need to take in order to meet appropriate pre-requisites to take genomic courses would comprise many semesters. Instead, it is my proposal that I obtain a basic understanding of genomics through reading and consultation with my advisor and other faculty working on the swine genome project. It is my goal to obtain postdoctoral training in the future which will supplement the core genomics experience I receive while working on the project.