President
Candice Ryan [email protected] Candice received her BSc degree in Biochemistry, Microbiology and Zoology at Rhodes University. She continued her studies at Rhodes University completing her Honours degree in Biochemistry and Masters degree in Bioinformatics. She is currently doing her PhD in Bioinformatics at Rhodes University, Eastern Cape, South Africa. She is also the current Treasurer of the Post Graduate Liaison Subcommittee (PGLSC) at Rhodes University. When not doing Bioinformatics Candice competes in ballroom and Latin dancing competitions, trains her team and is scrutineer for the South African DanceSport Federation (FEDANSA) and the secretary for the regional branch of FEDANSA in Makana. |
Secretary
Antoinette Colic
[email protected]
Antoinette is a current MSc student at the University of Stellenbosch, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics. Her current research involves investigating the genetic diversity of a particular set of Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins across multiple strains and the interaction of these proteins with the human immune system. She previously completed her BSc (Hons) in Bioinformatics at the University of Pretoria, and a BSc in Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Witwatersrand. Her previous research includes Pharmacogenomics and African genetic diversity.
“ I am very excited to be a part of the SASBi student council and promote Bioinformatics in South Africa!”
Antoinette Colic
[email protected]
Antoinette is a current MSc student at the University of Stellenbosch, Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics. Her current research involves investigating the genetic diversity of a particular set of Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins across multiple strains and the interaction of these proteins with the human immune system. She previously completed her BSc (Hons) in Bioinformatics at the University of Pretoria, and a BSc in Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Witwatersrand. Her previous research includes Pharmacogenomics and African genetic diversity.
“ I am very excited to be a part of the SASBi student council and promote Bioinformatics in South Africa!”
Media and Public relations
Jon Ambler
[email protected]
Jon is currently a PhD student at the University of Cape Town’s computational biology unit working on identifying the biological underpinnings of altered virulence in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causal agent of TB. This is being done through the integration of multiple datatypes (gene expression data, protein-protien interaction data, etc…) into biological networks, and subsequently using those networks to understand how changes at a genetic level lead to the observed phenotypic differences.
In the past he has worked on de-novo genome assembly in fungi, written a tool for detecting repeat-induced point mutations in the sequences of transposable elements, and investigated the effect of gene silencing mechanisms on the evolution of the genome.
"It is exciting to be a part of the growth of Bioinformatics both locally and globally, and to have the opportunity to help facilitate this growth as the SASBi student council."
Jon Ambler
[email protected]
Jon is currently a PhD student at the University of Cape Town’s computational biology unit working on identifying the biological underpinnings of altered virulence in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causal agent of TB. This is being done through the integration of multiple datatypes (gene expression data, protein-protien interaction data, etc…) into biological networks, and subsequently using those networks to understand how changes at a genetic level lead to the observed phenotypic differences.
In the past he has worked on de-novo genome assembly in fungi, written a tool for detecting repeat-induced point mutations in the sequences of transposable elements, and investigated the effect of gene silencing mechanisms on the evolution of the genome.
"It is exciting to be a part of the growth of Bioinformatics both locally and globally, and to have the opportunity to help facilitate this growth as the SASBi student council."
Staff mentor
Prof Ozlem Tastan Bishop
o.tastanbishop at ru.ac.za
Ozlem received her BSc degree in Physics from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. Then she moved to the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the same University for her MSc degree. She obtained her PhD from Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics and Free University, Berlin, Germany in 2003. She was co-founder and the first President of the student association of Max-Planck Institute in Berlin. While doing her PhD, Ozlem became interested in structural biology, and during her postdoctoral positions (Texas University, UWC and UP) she gained experience in structural bioinformatics as well as structural biology. In October 2009, Ozlem took up a senior lecturer position at Rhodes University, with the responsibility to develop postgraduate studies in bioinformatics at the University. She established Rhodes University Bioinformatics research group (RUBi) in 2010, and started one-year MSc programme in bioinformatics by coursework and research thesis in 2011. Ozlem’s broad research interest is comparative genomics and structural bioinformatics.
Prof Ozlem Tastan Bishop
o.tastanbishop at ru.ac.za
Ozlem received her BSc degree in Physics from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. Then she moved to the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the same University for her MSc degree. She obtained her PhD from Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics and Free University, Berlin, Germany in 2003. She was co-founder and the first President of the student association of Max-Planck Institute in Berlin. While doing her PhD, Ozlem became interested in structural biology, and during her postdoctoral positions (Texas University, UWC and UP) she gained experience in structural bioinformatics as well as structural biology. In October 2009, Ozlem took up a senior lecturer position at Rhodes University, with the responsibility to develop postgraduate studies in bioinformatics at the University. She established Rhodes University Bioinformatics research group (RUBi) in 2010, and started one-year MSc programme in bioinformatics by coursework and research thesis in 2011. Ozlem’s broad research interest is comparative genomics and structural bioinformatics.