BE Seminar: Mechanisms driving genome structure and regulating biological function by Dr. Sumitabha Brahmachari

Title: Mechanisms driving genome structure and regulating biological function

Speaker: Dr. Sumitabha Brahmachari,
Center for Theoretical Biological Physics,
Rice University, USA.

Abstract: Quantitative understanding of the genomic structure and its relevance to biological function remains a significant challenge. With advancements in experimental techniques like Hi-C and various types of imaging, there is a need for an integrative modeling framework that extracts mechanistic insights from experimental data. In this talk, I will focus on building computational tools for the physical modeling of the genome that directly incorporates Hi-C data to construct ensembles of genomic structures. These ensembles are consistent with imaging studies providing independent validation. I will discuss how the modeling framework is helping us discover the evolutionarily conserved principles governing genome organization and elucidate the modus operandi of various molecular drivers. The mechanistic insights from the data-driven structures are explicating an intimate regulatory relationship between genome structure and cellular function. Notably, the framework will play a crucial role in examining the relevance of three-dimensional genome structure in various diseases caused by the aberrant functionality of architectural proteins.

About the Speaker: Sumitabha Brahmachari is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics at Rice University, Houston, TX, working on topics related to the organization and mechanics of DNA. He is interested in developing quantitative models of chromosomes that incorporate techniques from statistical mechanics, machine learning, and molecular dynamics to understand how various proteins structure the genome and what information the structure might hold. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Northwestern University, where he was a Molecular Biophysics Training Fellow. Dr. Brahmachari is an active member of the American Physical Society and has organized scientific sessions in APS meetings and led workshops and outreach initiatives, including mentoring summer students as a part of the NSF Frontiers in Science program.