TRANS-REGULATORY CHARACTERISATION OF CELL SYSTEMS

Speaker: Dr Pengyi Yang - School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sydney

Speaker Biography: 

Pengyi Yang is a DECRA Fellow at the University of Sydney. He received his PhD in Bioinformatics at the University of Sydney in 2012. He subsequently undertook an interdisciplinary Research Fellowship in Systems Biology at the National Institutes of Health, USA. He returned to Australia on a University of Sydney Postdoctoral Fellowship in late 2015 and started his research group in 2017.

As a systems biologist cross-trained in computational science and biology, Pengyi combines machine learning and statistical methods to model trans-regulatory networks that cut across cell signalling, epigenomics and transcriptional regulations. His research contribute to (1) the development of computational methods stimulated by the pursuit of a deep understanding in cell systems; and (2) the advancement of knowledge in cell systems and diseases through innovative application of computational models.

Abstract: 

Molecular trans-regulatory programs comprised of cell signalling, transcriptional and translational networks are central to health and disease. Computational approaches are instrumental in characterising trans-regulatory programs of cells at the systems level.

This talk will focus on two seminal works where computational approaches were used to discover new mechanisms in transcriptional regulation. First work shows computational analyses and experimental validation of a histone-fold domain protein NF-Y in promoting chromatin accessibility for enhanceosome assembly. Second work shows computational characterisation and functional validation of a novel class of intragenic enhancers in attenuating host gene expression. Together, these works exemplify the importance of computational methods in driving novel biological discoveries.

Seminar host: Dr Fatemeh Vafaee