November 15, 2010–The Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (CBCB) is pleased to welcome Dr. Karol Miaskiewicz and Dr. Shawn W. Polson to our growing Center.

   Karol Miaskiewicz
Dr. Karol Miaskiewicz
Shawn Polson
Dr. Shawn Polson

As the new Computer and Information Systems Manager at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, Dr. Miaskiewicz comes to us with over 15 years of IT experience in support of life science research, including computational chemistry, structural biology, bioinformatics, genomics and drug discovery research.  Prior to his work in IT support, he was involved in computational modeling studies and computational enzyme redesign efforts.  With an extensive area of expertise, professional certifications, and an impressive history of professional experience, we are pleased that Dr. Miaskiewicz has chosen to join us at this point in his career.

Transitioning from his role as a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Dr. Shawn Polson has joined CBCB as a Research Assistant Professor and the Coordinator of the Bioinformatics Core. To date, Shawn’s primary research interests have centered on microbial and viral ecology, with a strong emphasis on computational aspects.  Shawn’s diverse research projects include metagenome/genome annotation, statistical and data visualization, and phylogenetic analysis. He is also a member of the development team and co-primary investigator for the UD-based VIROME web tool project, a viral metagenome analysis pipeline and annotation database.  Shawn’s background and enthusiasm for bioinformatics make him a great asset.  We look forward to seeing Shawn’s contributions to the CBCB—spearheading the effort for bioinformatics core support and collaborations with a special emphasis on next-generation sequencing analysis.

The Center for Bioinformatics & Computational Biology’s interdisciplinary and inter-institutional initiatives for the Delaware research and education community will only be strengthened by the knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm that Karol and Shawn bring to us.