
Fred Wright, Ph.D.
Director of the Bioinformatics Research Center
Goodnight Innovation Distinguished Professor of Statistics and Biological Sciences
306 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
Goodnight Innovation Distinguished Professor of Statistics and Biological Sciences
306 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
- 919-515-9060
- fred_wright@ncsu.edu

David McK. Bird, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Research
Co-Director of Genomic Sciences Graduate Program (Functional Genomics)
William Neal Reynolds Professor of Plant Pathology
326 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7253
Co-Director of Genomic Sciences Graduate Program (Functional Genomics)
William Neal Reynolds Professor of Plant Pathology
326 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7253
- 919-515-2535
- bird@ncsu.edu
- http://plantpath.cals.ncsu.edu/faculty/david-mck-bird

Spencer V. Muse, Ph.D.
Co-Director of Genomic Sciences Graduate Program (Bioinformatics)
Professor of Statistics
303 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
Dr. Spencer V. Muse is a Professor of Statistics, who at the time the founding of the center, was an Assistant Professor in the Statistics Department. He was promoted to Associate Professor of Statistics in 2003 and to Professor of Statistics in 2009. Dr. Muse develops statistical methods and software tools for the analysis of DNA sequence data, with emphasis on simultaneous analysis of multiple gene sequences from multiple species using a comparative genomics approach. He teaches ST305, an introductory class for majors, regularly.
Professor of Statistics
303 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
Dr. Spencer V. Muse is a Professor of Statistics, who at the time the founding of the center, was an Assistant Professor in the Statistics Department. He was promoted to Associate Professor of Statistics in 2003 and to Professor of Statistics in 2009. Dr. Muse develops statistical methods and software tools for the analysis of DNA sequence data, with emphasis on simultaneous analysis of multiple gene sequences from multiple species using a comparative genomics approach. He teaches ST305, an introductory class for majors, regularly.
- 919-515-1948
- muse@ncsu.edu
- http://www4.ncsu.edu/~muse/

Yihui Zhou, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Outreach
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
325 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
325 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
- 919-515-8966
- yihui_zhou@ncsu.edu
- https://sites.google.com/ncsu.edu/zhouslab

Hamid Ashrafi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Horticultural Science
234 Kilgore Hall
Campus Box 7609
234 Kilgore Hall
Campus Box 7609
- 919-515-1216
- hamidashrafi@ncsu.edu

David L. Aylor, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
Thomas Hall 3570 A
Campus Box 7614
Thomas Hall 3570 A
Campus Box 7614
- 919-515-7079
- dlaylor@ncsu.edu

Ben Callahan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Population, Health, & Pathobiology
CVM Research Building 158
Campus Box 8401
Dr. Callahan studies microbiomes - the complex microbial communities which inhabit and interact with almost every part of the world around us. He has developed new bioinformatic methods to more accurately characterize microbial communities, and applied them to the study of the microbial contribution to the pathophysiology of preterm birth. He is also interested in adaptation within microbial populations, which he has studied with a mix of analytics, simulation and experimental evolution.
CVM Research Building 158
Campus Box 8401
Dr. Callahan studies microbiomes - the complex microbial communities which inhabit and interact with almost every part of the world around us. He has developed new bioinformatic methods to more accurately characterize microbial communities, and applied them to the study of the microbial contribution to the pathophysiology of preterm birth. He is also interested in adaptation within microbial populations, which he has studied with a mix of analytics, simulation and experimental evolution.
- bcallah@ncsu.edu

Gavin Conant, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
357A Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7614
Our primary research interest is in understanding the origins of novel features in evolution and ecosystems, in particular how new genetic features appear and are altered by natural selection. One of our major area of interest is in how gene and genome duplications alter cellular networks and hence phenotypes. We also used metagenomic techniques to study how microbial communities can create complex ecosystems through simple assembly rules.
357A Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7614
Our primary research interest is in understanding the origins of novel features in evolution and ecosystems, in particular how new genetic features appear and are altered by natural selection. One of our major area of interest is in how gene and genome duplications alter cellular networks and hence phenotypes. We also used metagenomic techniques to study how microbial communities can create complex ecosystems through simple assembly rules.
- gconant@ncsu.edu
- web.missouri.edu/conantg

Denis Fourches, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
322 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
Fourches' research goal is to analyze, model, and forecast complex interactions between chemical structures and various types of biological targets to design novel compounds with the desired activity and safety profiles. To achieve this objective, he focuses on the development of cheminformatics techniques that characterize the two- and three-dimensional properties of molecules, establish quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR), and screen extremely large libraries of virtual compounds to prioritize hits to be tested experimentally. Fourches’ research has important applications to drug discovery, agrochemical development, green chemistry, and biocompatible nanomaterials.
322 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
Fourches' research goal is to analyze, model, and forecast complex interactions between chemical structures and various types of biological targets to design novel compounds with the desired activity and safety profiles. To achieve this objective, he focuses on the development of cheminformatics techniques that characterize the two- and three-dimensional properties of molecules, establish quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR), and screen extremely large libraries of virtual compounds to prioritize hits to be tested experimentally. Fourches’ research has important applications to drug discovery, agrochemical development, green chemistry, and biocompatible nanomaterials.
- 919-638-9311
- dfourch@ncsu.edu
- http://www.fourches-laboratory.com/

Alon Greenbaum, Ph.D.
Alon Greenbaum, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Affiliate Graduate Faculty (Bioinformatics)
Engineering Building III (EB3) 1203, 021 Biomedical Partnership Center
Campus Box 7115
Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Affiliate Graduate Faculty (Bioinformatics)
Engineering Building III (EB3) 1203, 021 Biomedical Partnership Center
Campus Box 7115
- 919-515-5997
- greenbaum@ncsu.edu
- https://www.greenbaum-lab.org

Steffen Heber, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Computer Science-Engineering
347 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
347 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
- 919-513-2726
- sheber@ncsu.edu

Dahlia Nielsen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Genetics
358 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
358 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
- 919-515-2586
- dahlia@statgen.ncsu.edu
- http://statgen.ncsu.edu/dahlia/

David Rasmussen
Assistant Professor of Entomology & Plant Pathology
312 Ricks Hall & Partners II, Room 1418
Campus Box 7566
Dr. Rasmussen is an infectious disease biologist and developer of phylogenetic methods for tracking the spread of pathogens using genomic sequence data. His research focuses on several human pathogens including dengue, influenza and HIV, as well as agricultural pathogens of plants and animals. Future work in his group will couple experimental viral evolution studies with phylogenetic analyses to better understand the genetic basis of pathogen emergence and adaption to new hosts.
312 Ricks Hall & Partners II, Room 1418
Campus Box 7566
Dr. Rasmussen is an infectious disease biologist and developer of phylogenetic methods for tracking the spread of pathogens using genomic sequence data. His research focuses on several human pathogens including dengue, influenza and HIV, as well as agricultural pathogens of plants and animals. Future work in his group will couple experimental viral evolution studies with phylogenetic analyses to better understand the genetic basis of pathogen emergence and adaption to new hosts.
- drasmus@ncsu.edu
- https://phylodynamics.wordpress.ncsu.edu/

David Reif, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Genetics
356 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
David M. Reif joined North Carolina State University in 2013 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics and a resident member of the Bioinformatics Research Center. His overarching research goal is to understand the complex interactions between human health and the environment through the integrated analysis of high-dimensional data from diverse sources, including epidemiological studies of human health, high-throughput screening (HTS) of environmental chemicals, and model organism data. To accomplish this goal, he focuses on analytical/visual methods development, experimental design, and software implementation. Prior to joining NCSU, David was a Principal Investigator (PI) with the U.S. EPA’s National Center for Computational Toxicology, where he led several statistical/bioinformatical efforts at the Agency and collaborated on a variety of projects with federal, academic, and industry partners.
356 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
David M. Reif joined North Carolina State University in 2013 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics and a resident member of the Bioinformatics Research Center. His overarching research goal is to understand the complex interactions between human health and the environment through the integrated analysis of high-dimensional data from diverse sources, including epidemiological studies of human health, high-throughput screening (HTS) of environmental chemicals, and model organism data. To accomplish this goal, he focuses on analytical/visual methods development, experimental design, and software implementation. Prior to joining NCSU, David was a Principal Investigator (PI) with the U.S. EPA’s National Center for Computational Toxicology, where he led several statistical/bioinformatical efforts at the Agency and collaborated on a variety of projects with federal, academic, and industry partners.
- 919-513-3812
- dmreif@ncsu.edu
- http://reif-lab.org

Xinxia Peng, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Molecular Biomedical Sciences
312 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
The Peng Lab uses systems approaches to better understand pathogen-host-microbiome interactions and microbial pathogenesis. The goal is to uncover underlying molecular mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis and to identify targets of intervention as well as biomarkers for clinical applications. We focus on computational analysis of high-throughput omics data combined with experimental validation. The Lab is housed in the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) Research Building located at the NC State Biomedical Centennial Campus, and is part of NC State Bioinformatics Research Center.
312 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
The Peng Lab uses systems approaches to better understand pathogen-host-microbiome interactions and microbial pathogenesis. The goal is to uncover underlying molecular mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis and to identify targets of intervention as well as biomarkers for clinical applications. We focus on computational analysis of high-throughput omics data combined with experimental validation. The Lab is housed in the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) Research Building located at the NC State Biomedical Centennial Campus, and is part of NC State Bioinformatics Research Center.
- 919-515-4481
- xpeng5@ncsu.edu
- https://cvm.ncsu.edu/directory/peng-xinxia/

Jeff Thorne, Ph.D.
Professor of Genetics and Statistics
323 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
Dr. Thorne regularly teaches Bioinformatics II (ST590C), a core course in the Bioinformatics graduate curriculum. His research focus is evolutionary inference from interspecific data and the reconciliation of such inference techniques with population genetics; developing statistical tools for studying molecular evolution using DNA and protein sequences; protein structure and protein evolution; and using molecular and fossil data to estimate the times since different species had common ancestors.
323 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
Dr. Thorne regularly teaches Bioinformatics II (ST590C), a core course in the Bioinformatics graduate curriculum. His research focus is evolutionary inference from interspecific data and the reconciliation of such inference techniques with population genetics; developing statistical tools for studying molecular evolution using DNA and protein sequences; protein structure and protein evolution; and using molecular and fossil data to estimate the times since different species had common ancestors.
- 919-515-1946
- thorne@statgen.ncsu.edu
- http://statgen.ncsu.edu/thorne/

Jung-Ying Tzeng, Ph.D.
Professor of Statistics
305 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
Dr. Jung-Ying Tzeng teachs Genetic Data Analysis, a special topics course for bioinformatics and statistical genetics students that covers the basics of genetic data analysis and gene mapping. Her research focus is development of statistical methods that can facilitate genetic epidemiologic research on human complex diseases; statistical modeling of multimarker/haplotype association for genome-wide and candidate-gene studies; gene-based and pathway-based analysis for pharmacogenetics; SNP genotyping error and quality control; and sequence-based association studies.
305 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
Dr. Jung-Ying Tzeng teachs Genetic Data Analysis, a special topics course for bioinformatics and statistical genetics students that covers the basics of genetic data analysis and gene mapping. Her research focus is development of statistical methods that can facilitate genetic epidemiologic research on human complex diseases; statistical modeling of multimarker/haplotype association for genome-wide and candidate-gene studies; gene-based and pathway-based analysis for pharmacogenetics; SNP genotyping error and quality control; and sequence-based association studies.
- 919-513-2723
- jytzeng@ncsu.edu
- http://www4.stat.ncsu.edu/~tzeng/

Zhao-Bang Zeng, Ph.D.
William Neal Reynolds Professor of Genetics and Statistics
366 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
366 Ricks Hall
Campus Box 7566
- 919-515-1942
- zeng@statgen.ncsu.edu
- http://statgen.ncsu.edu/zeng/index.php