Departments
- Michael Smith Laboratories
- Department of Psychiatry
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health
- Genome Sciences and Technology (GSAT) Graduate Program
- Bioinformatics Graduate Program
- Neuroscience Graduate program
Professional Profile
- Ph.D. (1994) University of California, Berkeley
- B.A. (1989) Cornell University
Research Area
The Pavlidis lab research lies at the intersection of bioinformatics and neuroscience – sometimes referred to as neuroinformatics.
One of the great challenges of neuroscience is understanding how genes influence behaviour. Linking information at the level of genes to cellular physiology and other aspects of nervous system development and organization is essential. To this end we work on integrating and interpreting genomics and genetics with data on networks, cells, structures, connections and phenotypes, and apply these approaches to increasing understanding of human conditions such as schiozphrenia, depression, autism and Alzheimer’s disease.
An area of special interest in our lab is the analysis, interpretation and application of gene expression profiling data. We curate, integrate and re-analyze data relevant to nervous system function. We also work extensively with genome sequencing and epigenetics data.
We also develop and evaluate computational methods, databases and tools. Many of these are of broad applicability (not just for neuroscientists), such as Gemma, GOTrack and ErmineJ.
Lab Research Questions
- What are the molecular and cellular causes of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders?
- What computational methods are most effective and appropriate for inferring gene function from genomics data?
- How can the vast quantities of accumulated transcriptomic data be leveraged for understanding disease mechanisms?
Research Keywords
Bioinformatics, genomics, systems biology, evolution, personalized medicine, protein regulation, proteomics, computational modeling, epigenomics, neurobiology
To learn more about the Pavlidis Lab, please visit pavlab.msl.ubc.ca.