Qunhua Li, PhD, walked through some of the techniques she has worked on to understand and characterize chromatic interaction. Li traveled to present at HudsonAlpha from Penn State University, where she works in the Department of Statistics.
The physical structure and arrangement of chromatins can play an important role in human health. However, analyzing potential associations between structure and traits proves challenging. Of particular interest is removing confounding effects that get in the way of true understanding by serving as a kind of red herring. Li explained in her work they use Hi-C data, which provides 3D information about the formation and organization of chromatins.
One aspect they worked to clarify was a ‘distance dependent effect’ that showed up in their research. Li’s team developed statistical methods for lessening the noise and increasing accuracy in the study of chromatic interaction when using Hi-C data, aiming to ensure that the analysis of chromatin structures and interaction yields useful results.
This seminar was hosted by Sara Cooper, PhD.
More information on HudsonAlpha Research Seminars, including the upcoming schedule, can be found at hudsonalpha.org/seminars.