Adam Siepel

Professor

Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, 2005

asiepel@cshl.edu | (516) 367-6922

I am a computer scientist who is fascinated by the challenge of making sense of vast quantities of genetic data. My research group focuses in particular on questions involving human evolution and transcriptional regulation.

Modern genomic technologies make it relatively easy to generate rich data sets describing genome sequences, RNA expression, chromatin states, and many other aspects of the storage, transmission, and expression of genetic information. For many problems in genetics today, the limiting step is no longer in data generation, but in integrating, interpreting, and understanding the available data. Addressing these challenges requires expertise both in the practical arts of data analysis and in the theoretical underpinnings of statistics, computer science, genetics, and evolutionary biology.

My group focuses on a diverse collection of research questions in this interdisciplinary area. Over the years, our research has touched on topics including the identification of recombinant strains of HIV, the discovery of new human genes, the characterization of conserved regulatory elements in mammalian genomes, and the estimation of the times in early human history when major population groups first diverged. A general theme in our work is the development of precise mathematical models for the complex processes by which genomes evolve over time, and the use of these models, together with techniques from computer science and statistics, both to peer into the past, and to address questions of practical importance for human health. Recently, we have increasingly concentrated on research at the interface of population genomics and phylogenetics, with a particular focus on humans and the great apes. We also have an active research program in computational modeling and analysis of transcriptional regulation in mammals and Drosophila, in close collaboration with Prof. John Lis at Cornell University.

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, 2012-2013.

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, 2009-2011.

David & Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering, 2007.

Microsoft Research Faculty Fellowship Program, 2007.

National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, 2007.