2025 Bioinformatics Symposium

Title: 2025 Inaugural GW Bioinformatics Symposium

When: April 29th 2025, 9am to 6pm

Venue: Talks: SEH B1220. Refreshments, lunch, and posters: Green wall area (SEH B1167). GWorld card required for entry.

Join us for a full-day, all-hands GW Bioinformatics Symposium featuring posters, talks, and roundtable discussions. Open to GW students, staff, and faculty!

NOTE: We have received nearly 130 registrations, while SEH B1220 has a seating capacity of 90. Be sure to arrive early to secure a spot. For those who cannot be accommodated in the main room, we’ve arranged an overflow space in GWCC 8040 Conference Room, where the sessions will be live-streamed.

REGISTRATION IS CLOSED. Event Registration: Space is limited. Please register by April 12th. 2025 for the event through this form. If you encounter any issues, please email Raja Mazumder (mazumder@gwu.edu) your name and the lab you are representing and he will register you.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION IS CLOSED. Abstract submission: Please submit your abstract by April 12th. 2025 through REDCap

OPT-OUT LUNCH PICKUP. We’re excited by the overwhelming response. Almost 130 participants from nearly all GW schools have signed up. Please note that seating in the main room is limited to the first 90 attendees. We encourage you to arrive early to secure a seat. For those who arrive later, we’re working to set up a spillover room with TV monitors so everyone can still follow the sessions. Lunch will be provided for all attendees who plan to stay for most of the day. If you’re attending only briefly and do not plan to pick up lunch, please let us know to help minimize food waste. You can either fill out this form or email mazumder@gwu.edu. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Abstract/Overview

The GW Bioinformatics Symposium on April 29, 2025, a full-day event is designed to bring together faculty, staff, and student bioinformatics researchers and also researchers who use bioinformatics in their labs, from across GW to foster networking, collaboration, and knowledge exchange. The symposium will feature talks from GW labs that focus on bioinformatics and related research, poster presentations, roundtable discussions, and sessions on resources, funding and career opportunities in bioinformatics. Topics will span bioinformatics, computational methods, IT/security, and training, highlighting the breadth of bioinformatics in various GW schools and centers. This event offers a unique opportunity for attendees to engage in meaningful discussions, explore potential collaborations, and stay informed about the latest advancements in the field. The symposium is a great way to connect with the GW bioinformatics community.

Poster

Poster setup: Poster numbers and poster category (AI/ML, Bioinformatics) will be distributed during registration.

Participants are invited to submit a brief poster abstract by March 31st at 11:59 PM (ET). We encourage submissions from bioinformatics labs and also other labs that do not primarily focus on bioinformatics but have research relevant to bioinformatics topics. A select few will be chosen for lightning talks. Due to the limited number of poster boards, priority will be given to ensure each lab/group has at least one designated board. If the number of submitted poster abstracts exceeds the available poster boards, additional posters may be printed as flyers with QR codes, enabling attendees to scan, view, or download them electronically.

Size: Poster sizes can be up to 48 (width) x 36 (height) inches.

Poster Abstract Submission Portal: Click here.

Poster Printing Instructions

Download the poster template from GW Research Day Resources: Poster Design & Layout.

After you create the PPT for your poster, request free poster printing from Gelman Library using this form.

Submit your printing request by April 15th.

Schedule (Talk Titles)

Time	Duration	Topic	Presenter(s)
Morning Session Topics: Registration, introduction, and health-related topics.
8:30 - 9:00 AM	30 min	Registration & coffee Lead: Raechelle McCants, Jewel Dias Registration Coffee Poster Setup Slide/AV setup & check
9 - 11:00 AM	120 min	Welcome Rong Li (Chair, Dept. BMM, SMHS) Alison Hall (Senior Assoc Dean for Res, SMHS) Raja Mazumder Anelia Horvath Talks (10 mins + questions) Session chairs: Anelia Horvath, Raja Mazumder	1. Anelia Horvath (Biochemistry) 2. Ljubica Caldovic (Children’s) 3. Muhammad Rahman (Children’s) 4. Seth Berger (Children’s) 5. Raja Mazumder (Biochemistry) 6. Yi-Wen Chen (Children’s) 7. Aintzane Santaquiteria Gil (Biology, Orti Lab) 8. *Marc Garbey (Neurology) Two 4 mins Poster Flash Talks 9. Jane Ulianova 10. Aiste Gulla
11 - 11:15 AM	15 min	Refreshment Break.
11:15 - 12:30 PM	75 min	Talks (10 mins + questions) Session chairs: Ali Rahnavard, Ljubica Caldovic	1. Jo Lynne Rokita (Children’s) 2. Max Alekseyev (Milken) 3. Erika Hubbard (Crandall lab, Milken) 5. Ali R. Taheriyoun  (Rahnavard Lab, Milken) 6. Hiroki Morizono (Children’s) One 4 mins Poster Flash Talk 7. Vania Ballesteros Prieto
12:30 - 2 PM	90 min	Lunch and poster session Lead: Anelia Horvath, Raechelle McCants, Jewel Dias	Poster Judging Committee: Anelia Horvath Ali Rahnavard Hiroki Morizono Yi-Wen Chen Jimmy Saw
Afternoon Session Topics: Breadth of bioinformatics in biological research; IT/security; Training
2:00 - 3:30 PM	90 min	Talks (10 mins + questions) Session Chairs: Howie Huang, Jimmy Saw, Chen Zeng 3:10 PM remarks Evangeline J. Downie (Associate Dean for Research, CCAS)	1. Mohammad Hammas Saeed (Howie Huang Lab, Engineering) 2. Nan Wu (ECE, Engineering) 3. Aya Zirikly (Computer Science, GW/JHU) 4. Chen Zeng (Physics) 5. Weiqun Peng (Physics) 6. Shekhar Nagar (Jimmy Saw Lab, Biology) Two 4 mins Poster Flash Talks 7. Chelcie Puetz 8. Kai Leung (Adam) Wong
3: 30 - 4:30 PM	60 min	Session Chair: Jonathon Keeney. Co-chairs: Hiroki Morizono, Anelia Horvath 5 min. Introduction: IT, omics support, and related topics Questions from audience Round table discussion Careers in bioinformatics Funding opportunities Games Poster prizes	Clark Gaylord (Director, Research Technology Services) Brian Choi (MFA) Anelia Horvath (MGPC core/Bioinformatics support) Jack Villani (GW Genomics Core) Ali Rahnavard (CBI Analytics) Hiroki Morizono (Children's)
4:30 - 6:00 PM		Networking event and refreshments	Anelia Horvath Jonathon Keeney Raja Mazumder Keith Crandall

*Talk titles TBD

Presentation/Discussion Sessions

There will be a Q&A session and a networking event at the end of the workshop.

Scientific Organizing Committee

Raja Mazumder (Symposium Chair), Anelia Horvath, Hiroki Morizono, Ljubica Caldovic, Keith Crandall, Jorge Sepulveda, Howie Huang, Chen Zeng, Jimmy Saw, Clark Gaylord.

Logistics Organizing Committee

Raja Mazumder, Anelia Horvath, Raechelle McCants, Jewel Dias. Student volunteers: Jane, Sofia, Allison, Chloe, Trupri and Lincoln.

Talk Titles

Name	Department	School	Title
Jo Lynne Rokita	Pediatrics	CNH	Accelerating discovery and target identification for pediatric brain tumors through open-source platforms and tools
Erika Hubbard	Bioinformatics and Biostatistics	SPH	Machine Learning to Determine Endotypes of Lupus
Raja Mazumder	Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine	SMHS	Integrating Biomedical Knowledgebases and Clinical Data for ML/AI-Powered Insights
Jack Villani	GW Genomics Core	SPH	GW Genomics Core: An Introduction & Overview (panel discussion)
Ayah Zirikly	Computer Science	SEAS/Johns Hopkins University	Developments in NLP and AI for Mental Health: Insights from the Last Decade and Future Directions – A Focus on the CLPsych Workshop
Weiqun Peng	Department of Physics	CCAS	Finding structures and their associated functions in genome wide of profiles of chromatin architecture
Nan Wu	Electrical and Computer Engineering	SEAS	Directed Graph Representation Learning for Circuits, Boolean Networks, and Beyond
Seth Berger	Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine / Pediatrics	SMHS	Blindspots in Clinical Genetic Testing: Integration of Multiomics to Improve Diagnostic Yields
Ali Reza Taheriyoun	Biostatistics and Bioinformatics	SPH	Dynamics of Gut Microbiome and Metabolome of Moderate and Severe Obesity Patients Under Sleeve Gastrectomy
Yi-Wen Chen	Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine / Pediatrics	SMHS	From gene to treatment: omics approaches for understanding facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy
Shekhar Nagar	Biological Sciences	CCAS	Metabolic flexibility and dissemination of antibiotic resistomes from Actinobacteria in Hawaii hydrothermal steam vents
Dae Young Kim	Center for Translational Research	CNH	mhGPT: A Lightweight Domain-Specific Language Model for Mental Health Analysis
Anelia Horvath	Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine	SMHS	AI driven Functional SNV Discovery from long read Single-Cell RNA-Seq Data
Ljubica Caldovic	Center for Genetic Medicine Research	CNH	Active Learning of Data Science and Bioinformtics
Max Alekseyev	Mathematics / Biostatistics & Bioinformatics	CCAS/SPH	Bioinformatics Meets Quantum Informatics: from Genome Rearrangements to Weingarten Calculus
Aintzane Santaquiteria Gil	Department of Biological Sciences	CCAS	Using comparative genomics to link genes with convergently evolved traits.
Chen Zeng	Department of Physics	CCAS	Modeling RNA-protein Interactions with network guided machine learning
Mohammad Hammas Saeed	Electrical and Computer Engineering	SEAS	AI for Good: Leveraging Graph-Based Methods and Large Language Models to Address Real-World Challenges
Hiroki Morizono	Center for Genetic Medicine Research	CNH	Biomedical data resources at Children's National
Marc Garbey/Henry Kaminski	Neurology & Rehabilitation Medicine	MFA	Moving towards a digital twin for myasthenia gravis (tentative title)

Acknowledgments

Sponsors: Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine (coffee, refreshments, lunch, poster prizes), IBS (poster boards), Milken Institute School of Public Health (happy hour, poster prizes).

Contact

For questions about registration, abstract submission or general inquiries, please contact:

Raja Mazumder: mazumder@gwu.edu

Poster Presentations

Poster setup: Poster numbers and poster category (AI/ML, Bioinformatics) will be distributed during registration.

Name	Presentation Title
Sunisha Harish	AI-Driven Drug Response Prediction in Cancer Using Long-Read Single-Cell RNA-Seq
Dae Young Kim	mhGPT: A Lightweight Domain-Specific Language Model for Mental Health Analysis
*Vania Ballesteros Prieto	Uncovering the Contributions of Expressed Genetic Variants, Isoforms, and RNA Editing to Tumor Heterogeneity via Long-Read Single-Cell RNA-Seq Analysis
Sarah Tiufekchiev-Grieco	Promoting Resolution of Inflammation as a Potential Therapy for DMD
Karli Gilbert	Machine Learning Models Predict Treatment Outcome from Serum Proteins in Patients with Myasthenia Gravis that received Thymectomy
Reny Mathew	Identification of anti-helminthic drug resistance associated Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in the canine hookworm, Ancylostoma caninum: A pooled-sequencing approach
Jo Lynne Rokita	Accelerating discovery and target identification for pediatric brain tumors through open-source platforms and tools
Henry Kaminski	Moving towards a digital twin for myasthenia gravis
Huai Chin Chiang	Single-Cell Transcriptomic and Phenotypic Profiling Reveals T Cell Dysfunction in BRCA1 Mutation Carriers
Lori Krammer	GW-FEAST: a federated ecosystem for data analysis and machine learning
Medha Kurukunda	Analyzing the Use of Artificial Intelligence to Enhance the Identification of Food Insecure Areas in Washington, D.C.
Christie Rose Woodside	Bridging Genomics and Preparedness: Regulatory-Grade Genomics and Quality Control Metrics and Analysis for Emerging and Circulating Avian Influenza in 2024-2025
*Aiste Gulla, MD, PhD	Clinical Outcomes and Long-Term Survival of Pancreatic Cancers by Histological Sub-Type in the Epic Cosmos Database: Results from 2010-2025
*Jane Ulianova	Comparison of alignment performance between the T2T-CHM13 and GRCh38/hg38 reference genome assemblies for RNAseq
Zhe Yu	Automated Tracking of Freezing Behavior in Paired House Mice Using DeepLabCut
Zhe Yu	Behavioral Bioinformatics for Temporal Analysis of Freezing Behavior in Dyad Mice
Karim Ismat	Generation of a single nuclei RNA sequencing atlas of dysferlin-deficient skeletal muscle
*Kai Leung (Adam) Wong	An Experience of carrying out GPU-accelerated Genomic Analysis on Pegasus
Gabriel Batzli	Defining macrophage heterogeneity in murine skin wounds during inflammation
Hovhannes Arestakesyan	Recurrent Somatic scSNVs in Single-Cell RNA-Seq: Insights into Tumor Heterogeneity and RNA-Level Variants
Chloe Sachs	Secretome distinguishes spectrum of NF1 associated peripheral nerve sheath tumors
Nikhil Arethiya	A Time-Series Approach to Glucose-Based Participant Classification
Siera Martinez	Hetero-GNN Link Prediction of RNA Editing in Single Cells
Renxi Li	Thirty-day outcomes of infrainguinal bypass surgery with concurrent iliac artery stenting in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia
Matthew Mollerus	ResLens: Detecting Antibiotic Resistance Genes with Large Language Models
Parimala Nagaraj	Cybersecurity at the Intersection of Genomics and Data Science: Securing the Future of Bioinformatics
Shekhar Nagar	Metabolic flexibility and dissemination of antibiotic resistomes from Actinobacteria in Hawaii hydrothermal steam vents
Cristina Fenollar Ferrer	Functional impact of PIP2 on the Serotonin Transporter (SERT)
Ali Taheriyoun	Dynamics of gut microbiome and metabolome of obesity patients under sleeve gastrectomy
Irene Zohn	Next Generation sequencing approaches to understand developmental defects
Max Alekseyev	Bioinformatics meets Quantum Informatics: from genome rearrangements to Weingarten calculus
Lausanne Lee Oliver	Phylogenetic analysis of novel phages from Hawaiian fumaroles
Mahdi Baghbanzadeh	seqLens: optimizing language models for genomic predictions
Dezhao Fu	varLens - enhancers genetic testing using language models
Lilly Shaw	Uncovering Shared and Unique Biomarkers Across 23 Cancer Types Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)
Daniall Masood	BiomarkerKB: A Comprehensive Biomarker Knowledgebase
Ljubica Caldovic	Active Learning of Data Science and Bioinformatics
Urnisha Bhuiyan	GlyGen: A Comprehensive Resource for Glycoscience Data Integration and Discovery
Surajit Bhattacharya	Redefining Human Airway Biology in Children from The Top Down: Unique Features of the Nasal Airway Epithelium.
Anelia Horvath	A Machine Learning Approach to Functional SNV Discovery via Isoform-Aware Single-Cell RNA-Seq
Christie Rose Woodside	Enhanced QC Metrics for Reference-Grade Genomic Data
Yi-Wen Chen	From gene to treatment: omics approaches for understanding facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy
Pia Sen	Investigating the role of bacteriophage diversity in Hawaiian steam vent microbial communities
Emily Williams	TRIM28 regulates endogenous retroviral element expression in prostate cancer
Cadina Powell	Be Smart And Use Smartphones for Telemedicine: Narrative Review
Xinyang Zhang	Meta-analytic microbiome target discovery for immune checkpoint inhibitor response in advanced melanoma
Cyrus Chun Hong Au Yeung	Leveraging Large Language Models for Scalable Glycan-Disease Relation Extraction
Ashley Garrison	Gut Microbiome Composition as an Indicator of Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease
*Chelcie Puetz	Combined Neuroinflammatory and Neurovascular Molecular Screening for Early Detection of Blood-Brain Barrier Dysfunction in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury
Ranojoy Chatterjee	cellSight: Enhanced Single-Cell Analysis Platform with Comprehensive Cell Communication Analysis.
Ishita Chopra	Characterizing Cell Interaction and Gene Expression
Luke Johnson	scSNViz: a user-friendly R package for visualization and analysis of cell specific expressed SNVs

*Flash talks