Courtesy / Jackson Laboratory
Paul Flicek
February 8, 2023
Jackson Lab hires its first chief data science officer
Courtesy / Jackson Laboratory
Scientists are generating data of such magnitude and complexity that advanced computational methods are vital for data analysis, management and dissemination.
Using machine learning to mine data to personalize cancer treatments and diagnose medical conditions. The ability to interpret complex genetic traits.
Those are just a few areas that Jackson Laboratory’s expanded data science program will focus on under its inaugural chief data science officer, Paul Flicek, who will start his new position this summer.
The nonprofit biomedical research institution, headquartered in Bar Harbor with nearly 3,000 employees in the U.S., Japan and China, said Flicek will be responsible for building and executing a comprehensive data science strategy across the lab.
“JAX is a world leader in mammalian genetics and possesses some of the most robust life sciences datasets in the world, primarily utilizing its expertise in genetics within the mouse model,” Flicek said in a news release. “The laboratory’s unique combination of mouse genetics, human genomics and data science methodologies present a fantastic opportunity to integrate and make critical data and insights available to the scientific community.”
Scientists are generating data of such magnitude and complexity that advanced computational methods are vital to analyze, manage and disseminate data to make the information more useful to the worldwide scientific community in disease research.
Flicek will lead the lab’s global efforts to increase the impact on innovative science, research and development across numerous disease areas, by integrating the lab’s genetics and genomics datasets across the organization and around the world.
That includes creating new strategies to enhance research and discovery and build a team of data scientists.
Additionally, he will extend the network of scientists worldwide who work with JAX, and manage relationships with external data and analytics partners, including academia, biotech and pharma.
Flicek started his career with the sequencing and analysis of the mouse genome has been involved with numerous genome projects.
His most recent position was with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute, headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany, where he served as associate director from 2019 to 2022 after holding other positions there.
While in Germany, his team most notably developed a genome annotation system and analysis infrastructure called the Ensembl, which serves tens of thousands of users daily.
Flicek is also an honorary professor of genomics and computational biology at the University of Cambridge.
“Dr. Flicek’s contributions to open genomic resources have had a substantial impact on the global scientific community,” JAX President and CEO Lon Cardon.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments