Research Students

Background

We have an enthusiastic group of students in bioinformatics at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research in Melbourne. See our Bioinformatics home page for a list of people and interests. Bioinformatics is a cross-disciplinary subject and the ideal student would be an expert in all three areas of biology, computer science and statistics although such an all round background is hardly ever possible. Students with a strong mathematics or statistics background to Australian honours level can make the transition to bioinformatics if they have good computing and data analytic skills and an genuine interest in solving biological problems. See the WEHI Bioinformatics section on PhD Study for further background.

Current Students

Penelope Bryant, PhD. Global gene expression analysis in the investigation of the human immune response (with Nigel Curtis and Roy Robins-Browne)
Toby Sargeant, PhD. Inference of species trees from multiple gene families (and applications to evolution of malaria) (with Terry Speed)
Mark Robinson, PhD Proteomics (with Terry Speed and Tom Brodnicki)
Carolyn de Graaf, PhD (with Doug Hilton)
Davis McCarthy, UROP
Di Wu, PhD (with Terry Speed)
Joshy George (with David Bowtell)

MA/PhD

Sumit Roy, Master of Arts, University of California 1988. Algorithms for computation of the likelihood function. (joint with Professors S. R. Jammalamadaka and R. C. Tiwari). Now an Professor at the University of Washington.
Bill Dixon, PhD 1997. The Spatial Optimization of Water Quality Monitoring Programs by Simulated Annealing (with Dr Barry Chiswell, Department of Chemistry). Was with Kinhill Queensland.
Heather Podlich, PhD submitted 1998, awarded 1999. Extended Poisson Process Models for Count Data (with Malcolm Faddy). Heather was co-winner of the Best Student Talk prize at Biometrics 97, Wirrina, December 1997. She also won a special commendation for her talk as a young statistician at the 14th Australian Statistical Conference, Gold Coast, July 1998. Now a researcher with the Biometrics Unit, School of Land and Food Sciences, UQ.
Peter Dunn, PhD submitted June 2001, awarded December 2001. Likelihood-based inference for Tweedie generalized linear models. Won one of three Best Student Talk Prizes at the International Workshop on Statistical Modelling, Odense, Denmark, July 2001. Won Best Talk by a Young Statistician at the 16th Australian Statistical Conference, Canberra, July 2002. Now a Senior Lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland.
Natalie Thorne, PhD submitted January 2004, awarded May 2004. Single-channel normalisation and analysis of two-colour cDNA microarray data (with Terry Speed, Simon Foote and Ian Gordon). Best Student Talk prizes, Australasian Biometrics Conference 2001 and Bioinformatics Summer ANU 2003. Now a Research Associate in the Computational Biology Group, University of Cambridge.
Matt Ritchie, PhD submitted Dec 2004, awarded May 2005. Quantitative quality control and background correction for two-colour microarray data (with Terry Speed). Won Best Student Poster Prize, 4th National Microarray Conference, Fremantle, Australia, October 2004. Now a Research Associate with the Computational Biology Group, University of Cambridge.
Catherine Carmichael, PhD Awarded February 2008. Investigation into genetic predispositions to heamatopoietic malignancies (with Hamish Scott)

Honours

Joanne White, Honours 1989. Nonlinear estimation, with application to the rate reducing resistance of Stylosanthes scabra. Now a Biometrician with the Queensland DPI, Rockhampton.
Robert G Clark, Honours 1990. Non-standard generalized linear models and algorithms. Robert spent 14th years with Australian Bureau of Statistics Methodology Division in Canberra. He is now a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics, University of Wollongong.
Sharon Raiteri, Honours 1991. Methods of analysing Taguchi experiments.
Joseph Ting, Bachelor of Medicine, 1992 (with Dr John Vance, Department of Child Health). Now a Staff Specialist at the Mater Children's Hospital, Brisbane.
Jeremy O'Reilly, Honours 1994. Point processes and the analysis of environmental data. Now a PhD student at the University of Queensland.
Geoff Mallon, Honours 1994. Mixed linear models and applications. Now a statistician and trainee actuary with Mira Consultants, Sydney.
Michael Larner, Honours 1997. Using modified time series methods to model sales and labour data at Pizza Hut. Now a statistician with Paper Converting Pty Ltd, Brisbane.
Murray Keir, Honours 1997. An empirical Bayes approach to random effects models. Now a Financial Analyst with Macquarie Bank, Sydney.
Leighton Ayre, Honours 1997. Regression graphics and applications. First job after graduating was as a Biometrician with NSW Agriculture, Wagga Wagga.
Doug Lincoln, Honours 1998. Smoothing Splines in Statistical Analysis: Application to Malaria Vaccine Trials. Now a statistician with the NSW Department of Health in Sydney.
Michael Lazzarini, Honours 1998. Keeping Indigenous People Out of Custody: Generalized Linear Modelling of Arrests Data from the NATSIS. Nominated for a University Medal for 1998. Now with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.
Ella Wilkins, Honours 2005 in Medical Biology, Familial leukemia's candidate gene mutation analyses (with Hamish Scott)