Uncovering diversity and evolution of microbial eukaryotes through sequencing data analyses: promises and pitfalls
Prof. Anna Karnkowska, Ph.D. in Biology, Molecular Evolution and Taxonomy (University of Warsaw, Poland), M.S in Biology (University of Warsaw, Poland), B.S in Biology (University of Warsaw, Poland)
Associate Professor at the University of Warsaw
Abstract:
Microbial eukaryotes, commonly known as protists, have attracted scientific interest
since their earliest observations under the microscope. These single-celled
organisms, which can be found in every drop of water and every grain of soil, have
long been studied using classical microscopy, which revealed much about their
ecological role and cell biology. However, it is only with the advent of next-generation
sequencing and approaches such as single-cell genomics and metagenomics that
we have begun to uncover their true genetic and functional diversity. Protists
represent the majority of eukaryotic lineages and are the closest relatives of all
multicellular eukaryotes, placing them at the centre of important evolutionary
questions.
Despite these advances, the study of protist genomics remains challenging, mainly
due to the lack of specialised computational tools and analysis pipelines. In this
seminar, I will present examples of important discoveries in eukaryotic evolution
made possible by modern sequencing technologies and discuss the current
limitations of data analysis.
LLM-powered Agents
Dr. Vlastimil Martinek, Ph.D. in Life Sciences (Computer Science) (Masaryk University, Czech Repbulic), M.S in AI and Data Processing (Masaryk University, Czech Repbulic), B.S in Applied Informatics (Masaryk University, Czech Repbulic)
Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Malta
Date and Time: 14th May 2025 at 12 pm
Location: Faculty of ICT, ICT Communications Lab (Level 0, Block B, Room 1)
Exploring protein variants and associated disorders through phylogenetic approaches
Professor Ogün Adebali, Ph.D. Major: Life Sciences - Genome Sciences & Technology, Minor: Computational Science (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), B.S in Molecular Biology and Genetics (Middle East Technical University, Ankara)
Associate Professor at Sabanci University
AI-powered phenotypic analysis: Accelerating biomedical discovery with EmbryoNet-AI
Professor Dr. Patrick Müller, Ph.D. (MPI for Biophysical Chemistry), Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Associate at Harvard University
Professor of Developmental Biology at the University of Konstanz
Affiliate Member of the Excellence Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour
Improving trust for AI in Life Sciences though FAIR research software
Professor Fotis Psomopoulos, M.Sc. Electrical and Computer Engineering AUTH, Ph.D. Analysis and Design of Parallel Data Mining Algorithms in Bioinformatics AUTH
Co-Founder of 4omics
Senior Researcher (Associate Professor level) at the Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH)
Unsupervised Statistical Tools for Anomaly Detection: The Case of Healthcare Frauds
Professor Fabrizio Ruggieri, B.Sc. Mathematics Milano, M.Sc. Statistics Carnegie Mellon, Ph.D. Statistics Duke
Senior Fellow at the Istituto di Matematica Applicata e Tecnologie Informatiche
Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology
International Professor Affiliate at Polytechnic Institute
Chair of Excellence at Universidad Carlos III and ICMAT-CSIC
Website: https://www.mi.imati.
Bridging the Gap: Transitioning from Life Sciences Research to Pharma Data Science
Andrea Grioni, PhD
Senior Data Scientist II
Biomarker Discovery in Translational Medicine,
Biomedical Research,
Novartis AG
Knot or Not? Sequence-Based Identification of Knotted Proteins With Machine
Learning
Joanna Sulkowska
Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Biological Systems Modelling
University of Warsaw
