Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biological Informatics for FY 2005

本行动资助2005年度美国国家科学基金会生物信息学博士后研究奖学金。该奖学金支持生物学与信息、计算、数学和统计科学交叉领域的博士后研究和培训。该研究金的目标是向青年科学家提供培训，为从事生物信息学方面的研究和教育相结合的职业做准备。越来越需要在所有职业级别上进行生物信息学培训，预期通过这些研究金培训的研究员将在培训未来工作人员方面发挥重要作用。该奖学金的研究和培训计划名为“开发和使用用于评估神经尖峰模型的统计学习工具”。统计学习工具，如boost，被广泛用于各种生物信息学应用。这项研究既开发了通用的统计学习工具，也开发了专门用于评估视觉神经科学模型中固有假设的工具。这些工具被设计用于研究视觉皮层或视网膜中神经元的输入-输出关系。训练目标是通过每周的实验室会议、讲座、课程和会议，学习大脑如何处理视觉信息的生物学基础。目前正在与纽约大学神经科学中心邻近实验室的实验学家以及库朗研究所和普林斯顿大学的应用数学家建立合作关系。更广泛的影响包括与国际会计准则协会的女性数学项目合作。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biological Informatics for FY 2005. The fellowship supports research and training at the postdoctoral level at the intersection of biology and the informational, computational, mathematical, and statistical sciences. The goal of the fellowship is to provide training to a young scientist in preparation for a career in biological informatics in which research and education will be integrated. There is an increasing need for training in biological informatics at all occupational levels, and it is expected that Fellows trained through these fellowships will play important roles in training the future workforce.The research and training plan for this fellowship is entitled "Development and use of statistical learning tools for assessing models of neural spiking." Statistical learning tools, such as boosting, are used for a wide variety of bioinformatics applications. This research is developing both general purpose statistical learning tools and tools specifically designed to assess the assumptions inherent in models for visual neuroscience. These tools are designed for use in the study of the input-output relationship of neurons in the visual cortex or the retina.The training goal is to learn the biology underlying how the brain processes visual information, through weekly lab meetings, lectures, classes, and conferences. Collaborations are being established with experimentalists at neighboring labs at the NYU Center for Neural Science, as well as applied mathematicians at the Courant Institute and Princeton University. Broader impacts include working with the Program for Women in Mathematics at the IAS.