Seminar • Bioinformatics • Computational Approaches to Understanding Neurodegeneration

Please note: This seminar will take place online.

Alla Mikheenko, Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, University College London

As the global population ages, we see more and more cases of neurodegenerative diseases, primarily Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In high-income countries, dementia has become the second leading cause of death. However, our understanding of the onset and progression of these diseases is still limited, and we lack effective diagnostic and treatment options. The future breakthroughs in neurodegeneration research hinge not only on innovative lab experiments but also on the development of novel algorithms and tools to analyze experimental data.

In my talk, I’ll discuss how bioinformatics is being used to investigate neurodegenerative diseases. We'll look at the use of sequencing data to understand disease mechanisms and identify potential therapeutic targets. My research in particular focuses on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative condition characterized by progressive muscle paralysis. I will show how computational analysis of genomic data can uncover the pathological mechanisms of ALS and discuss how research into one neurodegenerative disease can provide valuable insights into others.

Bio: Dr. Alla Mikheenko is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University College of London. She received her PhD in Bioinformatics at the Saint Petersburg State University under the mentorship of Prof. Pavel Pevzner from the University of California of San Diego.

Her research interests focus on using computational methods to tackle challenging biological problems. Her research experience includes development of algorithms and tools for analysis of genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data. As a part of the Telomere-to-Telomere consortium she participated in the first truly complete assembly of the human genome. She also was the key developer of the widely used QUAST package for genome assembly evaluation supported by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative “Essential Open Source Software for Science”.

To attend this seminar on Zoom, please go to https://uwaterloo.zoom.us/j/94542054124.