Computational Biology News

This fall, the Duke Department of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics welcomed a new cohort of PhD students in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. Hailing from across the globe, these scholars bring impressive academic backgrounds, a passion for translational research, and a wide range of personal interests, from anime and marathons to K-pop and cooking.

Matthew Engelhard, PhD, and PhD student Fengnan Li have developed a new natural language processing method that takes on the challenge of finding important details scattered throughout long documents.

The project, co-led by Matthew Engelhard, PhD, assistant professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics, aims to bring early mental health screening to clinics where access to care is limited.

David Beratan, PhD, who teaches in the computational biology and bioinformatics program, is one of four Duke chemists exploring promising new directions in renewable energy research.

CBB student Cymfenee Dean-Phifer was one of 13 biomedical PhD students who received a pilot grant from the Duke University School of Medicine Office of Biomedical and Graduate Education (OBGE) and the Precision Genomics Collaboratory.

Duke researchers, including Ben Goldstein, PhD, are collaborating on a new project that uses machine learning to recognize patterns in electronic health record data associated with children who are later diagnosed with autism.

Congratulations to the following people who have successfully defended their dissertations and will graduate from the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Program.

CBB research faculty member John Hickey aims to identify how and why cells in the same environment develop different characteristics.

CBB Director of Graduate Studies David Carlson, PhD, has been named the Yoh Family Associate Professor. He received this prestigious Bass Chair in April 2025, marking his induction into the Bass Society of Fellows. Members of the society hold a named professor title for a five-year term, along with lifelong recognition as Bass Fellows. This honor recognizes contributions to undergraduate teaching and research.

Duke CBB Research Faculty Member Monica Agrawal, PhD was named a 2025 Whitehead Scholar by the Duke University School of Medicine. The Whitehead Scholar program recognizes and supports outstanding potential in early-career biomedical researchers.