From BINF - Bioinformatics Centre
Contents |
Scope of MLSB08
Structural bioinformatics is the science of biomolecular structure on a genomic scale. Classic topics in Structural Bioinformatics include, for example, the prediction of protein structure from amino acid sequence, the automated detection of similarities between macromolecular structures and the design of novel drugs and enzymes. These problems are of tremendous importance in science, medicine and biotechnology.
Probability theory (Bayesian statistics) and machine learning methods (graphical models, support vector machines,..) are already playing an important role in structural bioinformatics, and their importance is still increasing sharply. In particular, machine learning and Bayesian methods are being used to bridge the gap between structural bioinformatics and the physics behind macromolecular structure, in tune with E.T. Jaynes' vision of statistical mechanics as a form of statistical inference based on partial information. The one-day conference "Machine Learning in Structural Bioinformatics 2008" (MLSB08) will bring together a selection of researchers that are applying state-of-the-art statistical and machine learning methods to important problems in structural bioinformatics, and in determining macromolecular structure from experimental data.
Topics include:
- 3D protein structure prediction using graphical models
- Determination of macromolecular structure from experimental data (X-ray crystallography, NMR, small angle scattering) using Bayesian statistics
- The statistics of biomolecular structure and shape
- Probabilistic approaches to superposition and comparison of macromolecules
- Machine learning methods to optimize the parameters of energy functions
- Factor graphs: a unifying view on graphical models
The conference aims for an interdisciplinary audience from structural biology, bioinformatics, physics, mathematics, statistics, machine learning and computer science. Attending the conference is free, but you need to register. The conference is organized by the Structural Bioinformatics group of the Bioinformatics center, Department of Molecular Biology, University of Copenhagen.
List of speakers
- Wouter Boomsma, Bioinformatics center, Department of Molecular Biology, University of Copenhagen, DK
- Michael Habeck, Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen, DE
- Steen L. Hansen, Department of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK
- Hans-Andrea Loeliger, Institut für Signal-und Informationsverarbeitung (ISI), ETH, Zürich, CH
- Kanti Mardia, Department of Statistics, School of Mathematics, The University of Leeds, UK
- Airlie McCoy, Structural Medicine, Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, UK
- Alexei Podtelezhnikov, Department of Physics, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, US
- Scott C. Schmidler, Department of Statistical Science, Duke University, Durham, NC, US
- Douglas Theobald, Department of Biochemistry, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, US
Date and venue
The conference will be held at the Biocenter, Ole Maaloes Vej 5, 2200 Copenhagen N, in the Lundbeck auditorium, on Wednesday April, 23rd, 2008. Click here to see a map. The entrance to the Biocenter is at Tagensvej, about 50 m from the corner with Jagtvej.
To find information about public transport options, see the home pages of DSB (Danish Rail) or the travel planner. For help in finding routes, streets or locations, see the Krak home page for maps.
By public transportation from the city center:
- Go to Nørreport station
- Take bus no. 6A, direction: Emdrup Torv
- Get off at: Arresøgade
- 3 minutes walk to Copenhagen Biocenter
By public transportation from the airport:
Time: Approximately 35 minutes. Regional trains leave Copenhagen Airport every twenty minutes during daytime.
- Take train in direction: Helsingør
- Get off at: Nørreport station
- Follow directions above
By car or taxi from the airport:
Time: Approximately 20 minutes - can take more, depending on traffic
(17 km).
Program
Program with time table and poster in PDF format.
Sponsor
Registration
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED
Registration (CLICK HERE) is free for all academics, and for all employees in BioSys member companies. Price for employees in non-BioSys companies is 1500 DKK per person. to be payed to the BioSys secretariat (contact schou@biosys.dk for payment deltails). Limited number of seats given on first-come-first-serve basis.
