[4eyes] FW: [faculty] MAT Candidate Talk on Tuesday 4/5

[Matthew Turk]

And here is info on tomorrow's MAT faculty candidate - the (5pm) talk should
be of interest to the lab....

-----Original Message-----

MAT Candidate: Miriah Meyer, Harvard/MIT
Date: Tuesday, April 5
Time and Place: 5:00pm in 2001 ESB
Host: Matthew Turk

Title: Visualizing Biological Data

Abstract:

Visualization tools are essential for deriving meaning from the
avalanche of data we are generating today. To facilitate an 
understanding of the complex relationships embedded in this data, 
visualization research leverages the power of the human perceptual and 
cognitive systems, encoding meaning through images and enabling
exploration through human-computer interactions. In my research I design
visualization systems that support exploratory, complex data analysis
tasks by scientists who are analyzing large amounts of heterogeneous
data. These systems allow users to validate their computational models,
to understand their underlying data in detail, and to develop new
hypotheses and insights. My research process includes five distinct
stages, from targeting a specific group of domain experts and their
scientific goals through validating the efficacy of the visualization
system. In this talk I'll describe a user-centered, methodological
approach to designing and developing visualization tools and present
several successful visualization projects in the areas of genomics and
systems biology. I will also discuss generalizations that arise from
working on focused, visualization projects as well as long term
implications for the field.

Bio:

Miriah is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Engineering
and Applied Sciences at Harvard University and a visiting scientist at
the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She obtained her bachelors
degree in astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University, and
earned a PhD in computer science from the University of Utah where she
worked in the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute. Miriah is the
recipient of a NSF/CRA Computing Innovation Fellow Award for her work on
collaboratively designing visualization tools for biological data. She
was also awarded an AAAS Mass Media Fellowship that landed her a stint
as a science writer for the Chicago Tribune. Miriah is a cofounder of
the Data Visualization Initiative at the Broad Institute, and she is on
the organizing committee for the inaugural IEEE Symposium on Biological
Data Visualization.