Norwich, United Kingdom
October 18, 2013
The Genome Analysis Centre’s (TGAC’s) Board of Trustee Directors is today pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Mario Caccamo as TGAC’s Director.
Dr. Caccamo is a leader in computational biology, with expertise and enthusiasm for biosciences and its role in the bioeconomy. Dr. Caccamo joined TGAC as Head of Bioinformatics in 2009, and was appointed Deputy Director (Science) in 2012 and in the interim post of Acting Director from January 2013. Dr. Caccamo has over 15 years experience on algorithms research. He received his doctoral degree in computer science from BRICS at the University of Aarhus (Denmark).
The breadth of his experience includes his work at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, contributing bioinformatics solutions to facilitate genome projects for the model organism Danio rerio (zebrafish) and Sus scrofa (pig). He also worked at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) in the development of the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA).
Since joining TGAC Dr. Caccamo has taken a leading role in the UK work on the wheat and barley genome projects and contributed on new algorithmic approaches to deal with large biological data sets.
Nigel Brown, TGAC’s Board of Trustees Chair said, “I am delighted that Dr. Mario Caccamo has been appointed as the Director of TGAC in a strongly competitive field. The Board of Trustees looks forward to working with him to realise his vision for TGAC to develop its role as a world renowned centre for research and training in genomics and computational biology.”
TGAC receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) and, Professor Douglas Kell, BBSRC’s Chief Executive, said “I am delighted to welcome this appointment, and note that Mario Caccamo served with distinction as a very effective Interim Director. This is an exciting time for Mario to take the helm at TGAC as the application of genomics and bioinformatics makes huge steps in advancing bioscience research and innovation. His expertise and experience will help to shape the future of this national capability and enable UK bioscience researchers to explore and exploit fully the many opportunities in areas such as systems biology and functional genomics, as well as developing novel technologies and computational platforms.”
Dr. Mario Caccamo said, "Since its launch in 2009 TGAC has grown to become a leading research centre in genomics and computational biology. I am delighted to be appointed to lead TGAC's talented teams, and look forward to continuing to build on the Institute's success. The research opportunities in TGAC's priority areas such as food security and renewable sources of energy have never been greater. The expertise of TGAC's research groups complemented by the access to cutting-edge technologies will be key to the development of innovative algorithms and computational solutions to harness the value of genomics data. Indeed, these are very exciting times to be working on genomics and computational biology."
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