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Daniel Paul Veltri
Ph.D. Candidate, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
George Mason University School of Systems Biology
Bioinformatics Laboratory Assistant, Crouch Ornamental Pathology Lab
USDA-ARS, Systematic Mycology & Microbiology Unit
Contact Information
Mail: 10300 Baltimore Ave. Bld. 010A, Rm. 229
Beltsville, MD 20705
Phone: +1.703.798.1568
E-mail: Dan.Veltri@gmail.com
Web: http://binf.gmu.edu/dveltri
Education
George Mason University, Fairfax VA
Ph.D. Candidate, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, 2011-Present
George Mason University, Fairfax VA
M.S. Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, 2013
University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder CO
B.A. Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology, Minor in Computer Science, 2006
Research Experience
6/2014 - Present
Bioinformatics Lab Assistant, Dr. Jo Anne Crouch
Systematic Mycology & Microbiology Unit, USDA-ARS
Current Grant: Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE)
Previous Grants: Rutgers University, USDA PATHWAYS Program
NGS genome assembly, annotation and analysis of fungal pathogens.
5/2009 - Present
Research Assistant, Dr. Amarda Shehu and Dr. Anand Vidyashankar
Computer Science Department, George Mason University
Sequence analysis and computational design of antimicrobial peptides.
2010 - 2014
Research Assistant, Dr. Nadine Kabbani and Dr. Amarda Shehu
Krasnow Institute, George Mason University
Modeling of ligand binding for GPCR and Cys-loop receptors.
2004 - 2006
Research Assistant, Dr. Carol Kearns and Dr. Diana Oliveras
University of Colorado at Boulder
Data collection- impact of urbanization on pollinator species diversity.
Bioinformatics Skills
Programming: C++, CSS, HTML, MySQL, Perl (BioPerl), R, Ruby (BioRuby, Rails), Tcl
Algorithms and Software: Bioconductor, BLAST, Bowtie, CLC Genomics Workbench, Dimensionality
Reduction, DOCK, FASTA, Feature Selection, Genome Assembly and Annotation with Illumina and
PacBio SMRT Sequence Data, GGPlot2, HMMs, Maker, Multiple Sequence Alignment, NAMD, Pattern
Finding, Protein Structure Prediction, Read Mapping, Support Vector Machines, UNIX/Linux, VMD
Awards
2015
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Research Program
USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Program Participant
2014
IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine
Best Student Paper and Student Travel Awards
2013
IEEE International Conference on Comp. Advances in Bio and Medical Sciences
Student Travel Award
2012 - 2014
George Mason University
BRIDGE Scholar
2010 - 2012
National Science Foundation and George Mason University
SUNRISE: Schools, University 'N' Resources GK-12 Fellowship
Journal Publications
J1. Menthol Binding and Inhibition of Alpha7-Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors
Abrar Ashoor, Jacob C. Nordman, Daniel Veltri, Keun-Hang Susan Yang, Lina Al Kury, Yaroslav Shuba,
Mohamed Mahgoub, Frank C. Howarth, Carl Lupica, Amarda Shehu, Nadine Kabbani and Murat Oz
PLOS ONE 8(7):e67674, 2013.
J2. Menthol Inhibits 5-HT3 Receptor-Mediated Currents
Abrar Ashoor, Jacob C. Nordman, Daniel Veltri, Keun-Hang Susan Yang, Lina Al Kury, Yaroslav Shuba,
Mohamed Mahgoub, Frank C. Howarth, Carl Lupica, Amarda Shehu, Nadine Kabbani and Murat Oz
Journal of Pharm. and Experimental Therapeutics 347(2):398-402, 2013.
J3. Are Nicotinic Receptors Coupled to G Proteins?
Nadine Kabbani, Jacob C. Nordman, Brian Corgiat, Daniel Veltri, Amarda Shehu and David J. Adams
Bioessays 35(12):1025-1034, 2013.
J4. Draft Genome Sequence of Dactylonectria macrodidyma, a plant pathogenic fungus in the Nectriaceae
Martha Malapi-Wight, Catalina Salgado-Salazar, Jill Demers, Daniel Veltri, and Jo Anne Crouch
ASM Genome Announcements 3(2):e00278-15, 2015.
J5. Improving Recognition of Antimicrobial Peptides and their Target Selectivity through Machine
Learning and Genetic Programming
Daniel Veltri, Uday Kamath and Amarda Shehu
Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (Under Review).
Peer-Reviewed Conference Papers
C1. Physicochemical Determinants of Antimicrobial Activity
Daniel Veltri and Amarda Shehu
5th International Conference on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BICoB2013). Honolulu, HI,
2013. [Acceptance Rate (AR): 20%]
C2. Systematic Analysis of Global Features and Model Building for Recognition of Antimicrobial Peptides
Elena G. Randou, Daniel Veltri and Amarda Shehu
IEEE International Conference on Computational Advances in Bio and Medical Sciences (ICCABS2013).
New Orleans, LA, 2013. [AR: 42%]
C3. Binary Response Models for Recognition of Antimicrobial Peptides
Elena G. Randou, Daniel Veltri and Amarda Shehu
ACM Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Biomedical Informatics (BCB2013).
Washington DC, 2013. [AR: 19%]
C4. Knowledge-based Search and Multi-objective Filters: Proposed Structural Models of GPCR
Dimerization
Irina Hashmi, Daniel Veltri and Amarda Shehu
ACM Conference on Bioinformatics, Computational Biology and Biomedical Informatics (BCB2014).
Newport Beach, CA, 2014. [AR: 25%]
C5. A Novel Method to Improve Recognition of Antimicrobial Peptides through Distal Seq.-based Features
Daniel Veltri, Uday Kamath and Amarda Shehu
IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine (BIBM2014). Belfast, UK, 2014.
[Won award for best student paper; AR: 19%]
Extended Abstracts and Posters
E1. Physicochemical Features for Recognition of Antimicrobial Peptides
Daniel Veltri and Amarda Shehu
2012 IEEE International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedicine Workshops (BIBMW). Philadelphia,
PA, 2012. [Extended Abstract & Poster]
E2. Comparative Genomics of the Boxwood Blight System: Insights into the Global Diversity of the
Mating-Type Locus
M. Malapi-Wight, E. Ismaiel, N. Saied, Y. Rivera, D. Veltri, B. Gehesquiere, K. Heungens, and J.A. Crouch
APS-CPS Joint Meeting. Minneapolis, MN, 2014. [Poster]
E3. Rearrangements of the MAT1 gene cluster architecture in the genus Calonectria
M. Malapi-Wight, D. Veltri, Y. Rivera and J.A. Crouch
28th Fungal Genetics Conference. Pacific Grove, CA, 2015. [Extended Abstract & Poster]
E4. Simple Synteny: An accessible tool for genome comparison
D. Veltri, M. Malapi-Wight and J.A. Crouch
28th Fungal Genetics Conference. Pacific Grove, CA, 2015. [Extended Abstract & Poster]
E5. Intra-miR-ExploreR, a novel bioinformatics platform for integrated discovery of miRNA:mRNA gene
regulatory networks
Surajit Bhattacharya, Daniel Veltri, Atit Patel and Daniel Cox
11th Int. Symposium on Bioinf. Research and App (ISBRA). Norfolk, VA, 2015. [Extended Abstract & Poster]
Theses
Physicochemical Feature Selection for Cathelicidin Antimicrobial Peptides
M.S. Thesis, George Mason University – Spring 2013.
Adviser: Amarda Shehu; Committee Members: Barney Bishop and Iosif Vaisman.
Selected Colloquium and Symposium Talks Given
2013
GMU School of Systems Biology Student Research Day – Manassas, VA
“Feature Selection for Cathelicidin Antimicrobial Peptides”
Won award for best presentation
2012
NSF GK-12 Education Conference - Washington DC
“Planning an International Trip (India) for Grad. Students”
2012
Miranda House, University of Delhi - New Delhi, India
“Computational Analysis and Design of Antimicrobial Peptides”
“Hands-On Learning in Elementary Science Education in the USA”
2009
GMU Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Meetings – Fairfax, VA
“Staying Ahead of Evolution: Engineering Novel Antimicrobal Peptides”
2005
CU Boulder Baker Undergraduate Research Symposium – Boulder, CO
“Research in The Kearns and Oliveras Pollinator Lab”
Teaching Experience
10/2012 – 5/2014
BRIDGE Scholar and Adjunct Faculty, GMU Center for International Student Access
Mentor and tutor for international graduate students in bioinformatics and statistics.
Instructor for PROV505: Writing in Statistics and the Sciences.
6/2010 – 5/2012
Teaching Fellow, NSF/GMU SUNRISE Fellowship
Annandale Terrace and Lynbrook Elementary Schools, Fairfax County Virginia
Taught and enriched curriculum for elementary school science and math.
8/2006 – 8/2008
English Language Teacher, Aomori City Board of Education
Aomori City, Japan
Assistant language teacher for elementary and middle school English classes.
Committee Positions
2005 - 2006
Director Search Committee, Baker Residential Academic Program
University of Colorado, Boulder
Student representative and interviewer
Professional Organizations
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Other Information
U.S. Citizen
Languages Spoken: English (native proficiency), Japanese (limited working proficiency)
Last Updated: May 12th, 2015