Kulathinal Lab
Research
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Dr. Rob Kulathinal is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology. He received his Ph.D. at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University with joint appointments in the departments of OEB (Organismic & Evolutionary Biology) and MCB (Molecular & Cellular Biology), and briefly at the University of Florida’s Genetics Institute. Dr. Kulathinal's research focuses on how natural processes such as selection and drift generates the molecular and organismal patterns evident among populations and species. His work on speciation theory incorporates a broad spectrum of approaches including population, comparative and functional genomics. Dr. Kulathinal focuses on reproductive genes, especially those expressing dimorphic patterns of expression, in order to understand how divergence and speciation progress. He teaches the Introductory Graduate Seminar (Fall) to incoming graduate students and Evolutionary Genetics (Spring).
Dr. Hansen received his B.A. from Reed College (Portland OR) and Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He comes to us from the University of Pennsylvania where he recently was a postdoc in Sridhar Hannenhalli's lab at the Penn Center for Bioinformatics. Dr. Hansen's expertise involves using statistical and computational tools to make sense of genome-wide data. His recent projects include conditional co-expression models of gene networks, genome-wide association study of histone modification domains, and the robustness and evolvability of transcription factor networks due to binding domain mutation (ongoing). Scientific and mathematical interests include the natural evolution of regulatory networks. Dr. Hansen current project identifies male- and female-specific genes as a first step to understanding the evolution of sex-specific genetic networks. More information about Dr. Hansen on his webpage.
Craig Stanley is a first-year doctoral student in the Kulathinal lab. He received his B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and M.S. in Zoology from Oklahoma State University. During his Masters, Craig focused on applied population genetics using molecular genetics techniques and bioinformatics in the freshwater amphipod, Hyalella azteca. His current research interests are in evolutionary and population genomics. Specifically, Craig would like to focus on using the tools and resources developed in Drosophila to answer questions concerning speciation. Check out Craig's website.
Baihao Su received his Masters degree from NYU-POLY and is currently a first-year PhD student in the Department of Biology. With interests in hepatitis B and C, he is currently rotating in the Kulathinal lab in order to learn more about systems genetics and genomics. Here, Baihao will work on a series of bioinformatics projects to further understand the etiology of caricinoma caused by the hepatitis B and C viruses.
Yu Liang recently graduated from Temple with a Computer Science degree and is starting his Masters in Computer Information Sciences. As part of an ongoing collaboration with Dr. Tonia Hsieh's lab, Yu will continue to develop lizardbase, a public database of reptilian genomics and GIS-curated datasets. lizardbase was built for researchers to disseminate ecological, morphological and genetic data and includes an outreach component allowing interested groups to quickly submit curated biological data to the larger community. As the webmaster of lizardbase, Yu has implemented a variety of database tools including a genome browser (JBrowse), a client-based GIS server (Geoserver), query-based filters and graphing tools, as well as a community forum. In addition, Yu has developed mobile and smart phone apps for lizardbase that can provide en masse data collection by students/citizens in real-time. More on Yu and his interests can be found on Yu's webpage
Russell Williams also recently graduated from Temple University with a degree in Biology. Russell is presently characterizing mating behaviors across closely related Drosophila species and their hybrids. Over the summer, Russell will continue his work developing a medium-throughput method to collect interaction data between males and females and use tools such as MATLAB to map his results. Russell is interested in evolution and behavior and plans to apply to graduate school this fall. Check out Russell's webpage.
We currently are looking for a "Senior Technical Support Specialist" who can perform genome and transcriptome assembly. Please take a look at the Temple University Jobs Site and search for the term, "genome". We are specifically looking for someone who will work on various bioinformatics-related projects, including analyzing sequence data to improve our understanding on how genetic variation is allotted during species divergence. Responsibilities involve developing and managing next-generation sequencing workflows that include the following: de novo genome assembly, SNP discovery, in silico functional annotation, data management, and analysis of genetic differences at the population and species levels.
Zacharias Stankiewicz is currently a senior in Temple University's Computer Science program. As an undergraduate assistant to Dr. Kulathinal, Zacharias is responsible for laboratory systems administration, systems analysis, as well as experimentation in visual design and implementation. Zach's keen interest in both technology and design has produced a number of useful lab-based tools including our lab's own communication platform, an integrated lab documentation, communication, and management tool, data storage and security devices and protocols, as well as this minimalist website. His website inexactitude contains a list of his other interests.
Katie Angione is a senior at Temple University where she is majoring in Biology in the Honors Program. Katie is volunteering in the Kulathinal lab studying genomic conflicts in mammals. By comparing different functional units from recently sequenced primate genomes, Katie hopes to find signatures of selection-driven evolutionary processess. Katie is particularly excited about how recent advances in sequencing technology is transforming personalized medicine and plans to pursue a graduate degree in the field of genetic counseling.
Anita Mathew is a Temple University junior majoring in Biology in the Health Scholars Program. Anita is studying parent-offspring conflict across mammalian lineages in the hopes of gaining a deeper understanding of the role that genomic conflicts play in the evolution of genomic architectures. Anita plans to use the results of her in silico experiments to identify candidate genes, and then to sequence these candidates at the population level. Anita was a novice to bioinformatics and scripting but now navigates through genomes like a pro.
Quoc Do is a senior student at Temple where he is double majoring in Biology and Math. Originally from Vietnam, Quoc (also referred to as "Q") was a student researcher in the Computer Science department where he developed a small-scaled city navigation software as a demonstration of graph theories in real life situations. In the Kulathinal lab, Q has become the sequence assembly guru. By taking excessively large numbers of short reads, Q creates sequence assemblages or contigs. Q is also excited about how recent advances in genomics, especially during this post-Human Genome Project phase, are transforming the Life Sciences and spurring numerous medical and commercial developments. Q will rejoin our lab, after taking a leave this fall. Q plans to pursue a graduate degree in the field of Bioinformatics next year.
Joseph Boland is a senior at Temple University. Joe is currently pursuing a bachelors degree with a major in Mathematics and a minor in Biology. This summer, Joseph plans to study patterns of genetic variation in the Drosophila genome. By comparing sequenced Drosophila genomes, he will examine genes that have undergone positive selection and trace the timing of these events. Joe hopes to learn more about the explosion of population genomics data and how to analyze and interrupt massive amounts of data. After getting his degree, he plans on attending graduate school to study biostatistics. When not in the lab Joe likes to ride his bike around the city, attend local music events, and snowboard.
Alexander Curtin is a Temple junior majoring in Biology. When he is not juggling, Alex is interested in understanding the genetic and evolutionary landscape of human disease mutations. By mining OMIM's many well-curated diseases, Alex has created a substantive database of molecular lesions that cause deleterious phenotypes in humans. Alex is trying to understand how some of these mutations exist in an orthologous context, i.e., in other species.
Lijing Chen is a senior at Temple University majoring in Biology. She joined the lab at the end of her junior year, and has helped with setting up much of the wetlab include DNA preps, PCR, microscopy and other resources in the laboratory. Lijing will soon be working on a population genetics project that surveys the biogeographical history of mainland anoles (lizards), particularly the Panamanian anoles.
