Biomedical Informatics

Research Faculty

Interim DirectorHide

Tracy A. Glauser, MD Associate Director, Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation

Tracy A. Glauser, MD, is director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and co-director of the Genetic Pharmacology Service. His research has focused on improving the care of children with epilepsy through identifying the genetic and non-heritable factors that underlie the inter-individual variation in response to antiepileptic medications. Since 2003, he has directed the NIH-funded Childhood Absence Epilepsy trial, a 31-center, 446-patient double-blind randomized comparative trial of three commonly used antiepileptic medications focused on identifying the optimal initial therapy for children with childhood absence epilepsy and the pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and pharmacogenetic factors that impact the inter-individual response to antiepileptic therapy. Glauser and the Genetic Pharmacology Service have also developed and are testing treatment selection algorithms for epilepsy and non-epilepsy medications that incorporate genetic information and drug-drug interactions.

513-636-4222 tracy.glauser@cchmc.org

FacultyShow

Sandra Andorf, PhD

Sandra Andorf, PhD, focuses on computational approaches in the intersection of immunological and clinical research. Many of her current projects center around atopic disease in general and food allergies in particular. She additionally focusses on the reuse of individual patient-level clinical trial data.

513-517-7132 sandra.andorf@cchmc.org

Bruce J. Aronow, PhD Co-director, Computational Medicine Center

Bruce J. Aronow, PhD, works toward unraveling both the role and mechanism by which the functional capabilities of the human genome shape human health and our ability to adapt to stressful challenges. The lab’s current research focus is to find or support efforts to solve problems relevant to genomic medicine by developing, both independently and collaboratively, new algorithms, tools and methodologies in translational bioinformatics.
Visit the Aronow/Jegga Lab.

513-636-0263 bruce.aronow@cchmc.org

Jing Chen, PhD

Jing Chen, PhD, is a bioinformatician with more than 10 years’ experience in computational biology. He is currently researching methods to combine molecular, clinical, and phenotypic data to predict genes and pathogenic variants as they predispose individuals to particular pediatric diseases including childhood cancer, preterm birth and genetic diseases.

513-803-8844 jing.chen2@cchmc.org

Anil Goud Jegga, DVM, MRes

Anil Goud Jegga, DVM, MRes, designs, develops and applies novel and robust computational approaches that will accelerate the diffusion of genomics into biomedical research and education and convert the genomics big data deluge into systematized knowledge to understand the molecular basis of disease.
Visit the Jegga Lab.

513-636-0261 anil.jegga@cchmc.org

Michal Kouril, PhD Director, Research IT Services

Michal Kouril, PhD, collaborates with several Cincinnati Children's divisions on a number of innovative technology-related projects. He also oversees the group that supports the research IT needs of the Cincinnati Children's Research Foundation.

513-636-1302 michal.kouril@cchmc.org

Hee Woong Lim, PhD Member, Division of Biomedical Informatics

Hee Woong Lim, PhD, investigate transcriptional regulations of gene expression in various context including but not limited to metabolism, development, pathogenesis, and pharmacogenomics. He specifically focuses on enhancer regulations and tries to explain their regulatory mechanisms. To this end, he integrates various levels of genomic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic information from high-throughput data (GRO-seq, RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, ChIP-exo, etc) to understand detailed enhancer architectures and their distinct functions.

513-803-0333 heewoong.lim@cchmc.org

Yizhao Ni, PhD Member, Division of Biomedical Informatics

Yizhao Ni, PhD, develops machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and information retrieval techniques to assist clinical decision making.

513-803-4269 yizhao.ni@cchmc.org

John P. Pestian, PhD, MBA Director, Computational Medicine Center

John P. Pestian, PhD, MBA, advances the science of natural language processing and understanding in biomedical settings. Along with a growing list of collaborators, his lab has developed neuro-cognitive algorithms that enable computers to understand concepts and semantic relationships within clinical text. Pestian also directs the Computational Medicine Center, established in 2003 by a $28 million grant from Ohio's Third Frontier Project.
Visit the Pestian Lab.

513-636-1627 john.pestian@cchmc.org

Surya Prasath, PhD

Surya Prasath, PhD, integrates state-of-the-art methods in biomedical image analysis with tools from computational mathematics, data-mining and statistics. The goal of his research to develop automatic biomedical image analysis and visualization tools, emphasizing the integration of imaging informatics data with clinical, genetic and genomic information for precision medicine and research.

513-636-2755 surya.prasath@cchmc.org

Krishna M. Roskin, PhD

Krishna M. Roskin, PhD, develops tools and techniques to analyze the immune receptor (BCR and TCR) repertoires and uses that to study the human immune system focusing on autoimmunity and immunodeficiencies.

Visit the Roskin Lab.

513-803-2902

Nathan Salomonis, PhD

Nathan Salomonis, PhD, uses computational approaches to examine the interplay between diverse modes of gene regulation, including transcription, alternative splicing, and genomic variation. We strive to develop open-source computational genomics approaches that are accessible by both untrained and skilled computational biologists alike.
Visit the Salomonis Lab.

650-576-1646 nathan.salomonis@cchmc.org

Mayur Sarangdhar, PhD Member, Division of Biomedical Informatics

Mayur Sarangdhar, PhD, develops computational approaches to discover and investigate latent relationships within biomedical big data. He is interested in unraveling the mechanisms by which drugs induce and/or exacerbate toxicities, studying them, and utilizing this new knowledge toward designing novel therapeutic strategies to minimize adverse treatment outcomes.

513-803-2106 mayur.sarangdhar@cchmc.org

Michael Wagner, PhD Faculty Liaison, Biomedical Informatics Core

Michael Wagner, PhD, researches the application of machine learning techniques to bioinformatics problems such as protein structure prediction, disease classification and protein identification. He is also involved in a number of projects that implement complex software and data infrastructure.

513-636-2935 michael.wagner@cchmc.org

Joint Appointment FacultyShow

Maya Dewan, MD, MPH Attending Physician, Division of Critical Care Medicine

Maya Dewan, MD, MPH, is an attending physician and assistant professor in the Division of Critical Care Medicine within the Department of Pediatrics. The focus of Dr. Dewan’s research is clinical decision support with a specific focus on using implementation science to improve the outcomes for high risk pediatric patients.

513-636-4259 maya.dewan@cchmc.org

Judith W. Dexheimer, PhD

Judith W. Dexheimer, PhD, is a biomedical informatics researcher with an interest in clinical decision support systems with a goal of improving clinical care and patient outcomes. Her research focuses on decision support in the emergency department with an interest in the effectiveness and efficacy of alerts and reminders throughout the hospital.

513-636-7966 judith.dexheimer@cchmc.org

Kevin R. Dufendach, MD, MS Attending Neonatologist, Neonatology and Pulmonary Biology

Kevin R. Dufendach, MD, MS, focuses on user-centered design of electronic health record system software, incorporating human factors principles into the design of human-computer interfaces to better improve information communication for both provider-facing as well as patient-facing applications.

513-636-7018 kevin.dufendach@cchmc.org

Philip A. Hagedorn, MD, MBI Medical Director, Liberty Campus, Division of Hospital Medicine

Philip A. Hagedorn, MD, MBI, is medical director, Division of Hospital Medicine, Liberty Campus of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and an assistant professor with Cincinnati Children's Division of Biomedical Informatics. Dr. Hagedorn is a pediatric clinician and researcher working to improve the care and safety of children through optimization of Electronic Health Record (EHR) decision support tools.

513-636-0409 philip.hagedorn@cchmc.org

Kenneth M. Kaufman, PhD

Kenneth M. Kaufman, PhD, investigates the genetics of complex and rare disorders using genotyping and next-generation DNA technologies. The goal of his research is to identify the underling mechanisms and genetics that lead to complex diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus.

513-803-5385 kenneth.kaufman@cchmc.org

Yaping Liu, PhD

Yaping Liu, PhD, is dedicated to develop and apply machine learning and high-throughput experimental methods to understand the gene regulation and non-coding genetic variants. Specifically, he is interested in extracting genetic and multi-dimensional epigenetic information from circulating cell-free DNA, exosomal-DNA and its related cell types to explore the role of epigenetics in gene regulation and therefore bridge the gap between genetic and phenotypic variations at different healthy and pathological conditions.

513-803-3207 yaping.liu@cchmc.org

Jarek Meller, PhD Graduate Program Director, Division of Biomedical Informatics

Dr. Meller researches the development and application of computational methods for learning from biological data, including applications to protein structure prediction, mapping protein interactions, functional annotation and genotype-phenotype associations. State-of-the-art modeling and annotation tools developed by his group are publicly available.
Visit the Meller Lab.

513-636-0270 jmeller@cchmc.org

Emily R. Miraldi, PhD

Dr. Miraldi is a computational and systems biologist who builds mathematical models of the immune system from high-dimensional genomics measurements. Her studies leverage biotechnologies, including chromatin accessibility and single-cell gene expression measurements, and require new computational methods development. Miraldi’s long-term goal is to use these models to reengineer immune-cell behavior in the context of autoimmune and other diseases.
Visit the Miraldi Lab.

513-517-2063 emily.miraldi@cchmc.org

Nathan M. Pajor, MD Member, Division of Pulmonary Medicine

Nathan M. Pajor, MD, focuses his research on improving the care of children requiring chronic mechanical ventilation. He is working to develop predictive models and to improve outcomes for ventilator weaning in the chronic ventilator population.

513-636-2267 nathan.pajor@cchmc.org

Alexey Porollo, PhD Member, Center for Autoimmune Genomics and Etiology

Dr. Porollo is a computational biologist with research focused on the development of new prediction and analytical methods in structural bioinformatics.
Visit the Porollo Lab website.

513-803-5489 alexey.porollo@cchmc.org

S. Andrew Spooner, MD, MS, FAAP Chief Medical Information Officer, Biomedical Informatics

S. Andrew Spooner, MD, MS, FAAP, is actively involved in patient-centered research. He is interested in clinical decision support in the pediatric electronic health record.

513-636-2290 andrew.spooner@cchmc.org

Alexander J. Towbin, MD Radiologist, Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging

Dr. Towbin is interested in radiology informatics; cancer imaging and abdominal imaging.

513-636-5896 alexander.towbin@cchmc.org

Matthew T. Weirauch, PhD

Matthew T. Weirauch, PhD, is a computational biologist. His lab seeks to understand the mechanisms of gene transcriptional regulation. Current projects focus on characterizing transcription factor binding specificities, and developing methods for modeling their interactions with DNA, both in vitro and in vivo. His lab applies insights from basic research on transcription factor-DNA interactions to study the mechanisms underlying complex diseases.

Visit the Weirauch Lab.

513-803-9078 matthew.weirauch@cchmc.org

Yan Xu, PhD Director of Bioinformatics Core, Neonatology & Pulmonary Biology; Perinatal Institute

Dr. Xu's research interests include the identification of gene signatures, regulatory networks and biological pathways controlling lung development, maturation and diseases. She is actively involved in the development of detailed developmental lung-map via high-throughput single cell genomics to provide useful tools and resources for the lung research community.

513-636-8921 yan.xu@cchmc.org

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