Meetings & Courses Program

Crossroads of Biology

Statistical Methods for Functional Genomics
June 29 - July 12, 2018
Application Deadline: March 31 2018

Instructors:

Harmen Bussemaker, Columbia University
Sean Davis, National Institute of Health
Tuuli Lappalainen, New York Genome Center
Michael Love, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

See the roll of honor - who's taken the course in the past

Over the past decade, high-throughput assays have become pervasive in biological research due to both rapid technological advances and decreases in overall cost. To properly analyze the large data sets generated by such assays and thus make meaningful biological inferences, both experimental and computational biologists must understand the fundamental statistical principles underlying analysis methods. This course is designed to build competence in statistical methods for analyzing high-throughput data in genomics and molecular biology.

Topics Include:
  • The R environment for statistical computing and graphics
  • Introduction to Bioconductor
  • Review of basic statistical theory and hypothesis testing
  • Experimental design, quality control, and normalization
  • High-throughput sequencing technologies
  • Expression profiling using RNA-Seq and microarrays
  • In vivo protein binding using ChIP-Seq
  • High-resolution chromatin footprinting using DNase-Seq
  • DNA methylation profiling analysis
  • Integrative analysis of data from parallel assays
  • Representations of DNA binding specificity and motif discovery algorithms
  • Predictive modeling of gene regulatory networks using machine learning
  • Analysis of posttranscriptional regulation, RNA binding proteins, and microRNAs

Format: Detailed lectures and presentations by instructors and guest speakers will be combined with hands-on computer tutorials. The methods covered in the lectures will be applied to example high-throughput data sets.

2017 Speakers:

Stirling Churchman, Harvard Medical School
Anshul Kundaje, Stanford University
Michael Love, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill 

This course is supported with funds provided by: National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Support & Stipends

On average, 50% of trainees receive financial support on a needs-basis. Stipends are available to offset tuition costs as follows:

       

US applicants (National Institute of General Medical Sciences)
Interdisciplinary Fellowships (transitioning from outside biology)  & Scholarships (transitioning from other biological disciplines) (Helmsley Charitable Trust)
International applicants (Howard Hughes Medical Institute)

Please indicate your eligibility for funding in your stipend request submitted when you apply to the course. Stipend requests do not affect selection decisions made by the instructors. 

Cost (including board and lodging): $3,885 

No fees are due until you have completed the full application process and are accepted into the course. Students accepted into the course should plan to arrive by early evening on June 28 and plan to depart after lunch on July 12.

Before applying, ensure you have 1) Personal statement/essay; 2) Letter(s) of recommendation; 3) Curriculum vitae/resume (optional); 4) Financial aid request (optional). More details


If you are not ready to fully apply but wish to express interest in applying, receive a reminder two weeks prior to the deadline, and tell us about your financial aid requirements, click below: