Dr. Thomas
Trained in computational biology (specifically computational protein folding using statistical-mechanics based techniques with Dr. Ken Dill), Dr. Thomas turned to genomics as soon as the Human Genome Project began pilot work in 1995. The culmination of this early work was the publication of the paper describing the sequencing of the first human genome in 2001; Dr. Thomas led the work described in the 10-page section of the paper entitled "An overview of the predicted protein coding genes in the human genome." Since that time, Dr. Thomas's group has continued to innovate in the area of computational analysis of genomic data, with an emphasis on gene function and evolution. In addition to founding and continuing development on the PANTHER project, Dr. Thomas is a director of the Gene Ontology Consortium, one of the largest and best-known bioinformatics projects in the world.
Current Positions
Associate Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California.
Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Dornsife School of Letters and Sciences, University of Southern California.
Director, Bioinformatics Core, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California.
Director, Gene Ontology Consortium.
Recent Awards
Thomson-Reuters Highly Cited Scientists, 2016 (top 1% in field of Biology & Biochemistry)