Genetics Graduate Student
Before coming to UC Davis, I studied and worked at the University of Utah. During my undergraduate career, I worked in Jean-Marc Lalouel's lab investigating genes associated with salt-sensitive hypertension in C57BL/6 mice. While studying hypertension, I was able to delve in to the (what was then new) world of computational microarray analysis, which really started me on the path to where I am today. After receiving my B.Sc. in Biology, I was fortunate to work with Dr. Victoria Lawson studying mitochondrial fusion and function in Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy type 2A in patient fibroblasts.
I am currently a PhD Candidate in the Korf lab, where I am able to combine two passions. Genetics and Computers. I'm currently to developing a flexible hidden Markov model framework called StochHMM. StochHMM allows us to rapidly create and apply HMM models to make important predictions, while allowing us to integrate varied data sources in our predictions. I've been blessed to be able to use StochHMM in a couple past and ongoing collaborations. At the moment, I'm working feverishly to get StochHMM released to the public, where I can then facilitate others in developing HMMs to further their own research.
Outside of the lab: Before moving to Davis, you could find me up in the mountains climbing and biking every day after work. I enjoy spending time with my family, providing technical support for my wife's law firm, and playing around with Arduinos.
Oh, if time were limitless ... In general, I am interested in developing and applying machine learning tools to mine "omics" data. While interested in many facets of genetics and bioinformatics, lack of time has currently limited me to the following:
Jun 26, 2015: Keith Bradnam is interviewed by Frontline Genomics Magazine about his life in Bioinformatics.
Apr 8, 2015: Ian Korf is quoted in a Nature commentary article about Bioinformatics Service cores and the need for beter career paths for bioinformaticians.
Mar 16, 2015: Danielle Lemay is interviewed by the UC Davis News team about the new publication by herself, Kristen Beck (lead author), Ian Korf and others that describes new milk proteomes for human and macaque.
Apr 22, 2013: The Assemblathon 2 paper has won the 2013 BioMed Central Open Data award
Dec 10, 2013: A short piece in the UC Davis Alumni Magazine that discusses the new Genomics undergraduate major that Ian Korf co-developed.
Nov 26, 2013: Ian Korf writes a News & Views piece for Nature Methods about two new comparisons of programs that work with RNA-seq data
Nov 1, 2013: Keith B. and Kristen are both featured in a piece on Inquiring Minds as part of the new One UC Davis campaign.
Our free 175-page primer that teaches the basics of Unix & Perl
Our book that greatly expands on our free primer.
A regular discussion forum at the Genome Center for all things relating to sequence analysis
Where we work
Part of the Genome Center
For questions or comments about the website, please e-mail:
korflab AT ucdavis DOT edu
Contact information for specific members of our lab can be found on their personal pages.