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Dong Xu Lab
Research Interests
Dr. Xu’s lab focuses on the interface between bioinformatics and deep learning. It works on development of novel computational methods, algorithms, software and information systems, as well as on broad applications of these tools and other informatics resources for various biological and medical problems. Several successful applications of deep learning by the lab in bioinformatics span areas such as single-cell data analysis, protein structure prediction, protein language models, protein localization prediction, predicting sites of protein post-translational modifications, elucidating genotype-phenotype associations, understanding biological pathways through image analysis in published literature, and analyzing tongue images for health evaluations.
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Dong Xu
Principal Investigator, Bond LSC
Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Investigator, Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health
phone(573) 882-2299
email xudong@missouri.edu
Dong Xu is a Curators’ Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the College of Engineering with appointments in Bond LSC and the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics. He obtained his PhD from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1995 and did two years of postdoctoral work at the US National Cancer Institute. He was a staff scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory until 2003. He then joined Mizzou where he served as department chair of Computer Science during 2007-2016 and director of Information Technology Program from 2017-2020.
Over the past 30+ years, he has conducted research in many areas of computational biology and bioinformatics, including single-cell data analysis, protein structure prediction and modeling, protein post-translational modifications, protein localization prediction, computational systems biology, biological information systems, and bioinformatics applications in human, microbes, and plants.
His research since 2012 has focused on the interface between bioinformatics and deep learning. He has published more than 500 papers with more than 28,000 citations and an H-index of 85 according to Google Scholar. He was elected to the rank of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow in 2015 and became an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow in 2020.
As computer researcher with a strong background in molecular biology, Xu practices “bioinformatics.” He uses high-capacity computers to help other researchers analyze huge amounts of data, such as DNA sequences in human and plants. Xu’s lab has developed software programs that assist biological modeling; for example, one of their programs enables scientists to predict how proteins on the cellular level will change, or “fold,” when subjected to certain conditions.
ABOUT THE LAB
- Single-cell data analysis: Leverage deep learning techniques to develop algorithms and tools for unraveling complex biological patterns and relationships embedded in large-scale, noisy single-cell datasets.
- Protein analysis, prediction, and design: Develop protein language models, predict post-translational modification sites, predict protein localization, and design proteins and peptides.
- AI foundation model applications: Utilize large language and image models to analyze biomedical text and images.
LAB MEMBERS
Duolin Wang
Postdoctoral Fellow, Bond LSC
Biplab Poudel
Ph.D. Candidate, Computer Science
emailbpbx2
place110 Bond Life Sciences Center
Negin Manshour
Ph.D Candidate, Electrical and Computer Science
emailnmn5x
place110 Bond Life Sciences Center
Weinan Zhang
Ph.D. Candidate, Electrical and Computer Engineering
place110 Bond Life Sciences Center
Research Topics
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Applied computing
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Artificial intelligence
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Crop improvement and agricultural sustainability
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Data management
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Deep learning and AI for biological data
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Drug candidate modeling
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Genomic tools and systems biology
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Machine learning
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Multi-omics and bioinformatics tools
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Single-cell genomics
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Software engineering
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Spatial transcriptomics
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Applied computing
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Artificial intelligence
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Crop improvement and agricultural sustainability
-
Data management
-
Deep learning and AI for biological data
-
Drug candidate modeling
-
Genomic tools and systems biology
-
Machine learning
-
Multi-omics and bioinformatics tools
-
Single-cell genomics
-
Software engineering
-
Spatial transcriptomics
In the news
April 8, 2022
#IAmScience: Dong Xu
Data connects all: ‘Champion collaborator’ Xu bridges research disciplines with bioinformatics By Cara Penquite | Bond LSC Dong Xu extracts wonder from numbers with a keyboard and eager teams of scientists at his fingertips. With his salt-and-pepper hair visible above the cubicle walls and his voice softly but steadily articulated, the beauty of bioinformatics takes shape in his mind although it might not be inherently evident in the rows of computers tucked into a small first floor lab. Xu weaves a multifaceted masterpiece of research methodologies and makes sense of a sea of data from cell…
Sep. 4, 2020
Killing Cancer with Code
These maps show the receptors’ locations, density and count in a cancer cell. | photo contributed by Alexander Jurkevich, Donald Burke-Agüero, David Porciani and Skyler Kramer. By Lauren Hines | Bond LSC With two laptops in front of him and a supercomputer on the edge of campus, graduate student Skyler Kramer runs through code daily in the Dong Xu lab with a purpose far beyond deciphering lines of data. He helps his colleagues defeat cancer. Working in Bond LSC with senior post doctorate David Porciani from the Donald…
April 16, 2020
Dong Xu receives national honor
Dong Xu, Bond LSC principal investigator and Shumaker Endowed Professor in the University of Missouri’s College of Engineering. | photo by Roger Meissen, Bond LSC A Bond Life Sciences Center researcher has been inducted into an elite organization comprised of two percent of all medical and biological engineers. The American Institution for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) this week announced the induction of Dong Xu, a Bond LSC principal investigator and Shumaker Endowed Professor in the University of Missouri’s College of Engineering. “Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to…