Dr. Xinshu (Grace) Xiao
Professor, Integrative Biology and Physiology
Maria R. Ross Chair
Home Director, Bioinformatics Program
The rapid advances in genomics, proteomics and other high-throughput technologies have enabled systematic acquisition of massive amounts of data. Development and application of novel bioinformatic approaches to interpret these data represent exciting challenges and amazing opportunities for young researchers. As a multi-disciplinary field, bioinformatics attracts talented minds from a diversity of backgrounds. This field is becoming a core aspect of all branches of biosciences research.
The central mission of the Bioinformatics Graduate Program is to train talented and highly motivated students to become next-generation leaders in the field of Bioinformatics. Our program was established in 2008. In the past 10 years or so, we have enjoyed a tremendous growth in size and impact. We have graduated 20 students and now have more than 45 Ph.D. students in the program. We have a diverse group of over 50 faculty members spanning over 10 academic departments in the Schools of Medicine, Engineering, Life Sciences, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and Public Health. Our exceptional faculty mentors include HHMI investigators and members of the National Academy of Sciences.
We offer rigorous and integrated training for students interested in undertaking research at the interface of computer science, mathematics, statistics, biology, and biomedicine to address the fundamental challenges of data-rich research in biosciences. Our faculty are deeply committed to this mission and provide in-depth, attentive mentorship for our students throughout their graduate careers and beyond. Our students enjoy a vibrant intellectual environment including the Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences, the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics, and the NIH Big Data to Knowledge Center of Excellence at UCLA. We offer exceptional institutional resources and facilities for genomic and biomedical big data production and advanced high-performance computing. We are home to a NIH Training Grant in Biomedical Big Data, and our students receive extensive fellowship support from a large list of training grants at UCLA. We are devoted to community outreach and diversity, and deeply committed to recruiting and training students from underrepresented groups in Bioinformatics.
We welcome your interest in UCLA’s Bioinformatics program.
Xinshu (Grace) Xiao, Ph.D.
Home Director and Chair of the Bioinformatics Program, UCLA