David Burks: Plant Direct First Author

David Burks, first author of “The Arabidopsis gene co-expression network”

Current Position: Bioinformatics Scientist I, Ambry Genetics

Education: PhD Bioinformatics, University of North Texas; BS Biology, University of North Texas

Non-scientific Interests: Hiking, Vinyl Collection, Video Games, Fishing, Cooking

Brief bio: First generation high-school and college graduate from East Texas.  Currently living near Lake Cherokee in Tennessee working as a remote Bioinformatics Scientist I for Ambry Genetics.  Former member of Prof. Rajeev Azad’s lab at the University of North Texas where we worked together on over 15 peer-reviewed articles during my PhD program.  While my dissertation focused on taxonomic classification of short-read metagenomic datasets using higher-order Markov models, our collaborative work spanned higher plants, nematodes, zebrafish, and the occasional prokaryote.  My post-graduate career has been spent in industry where I now work towards better genetic testing as a bioinformatics operations specialist and business relations manager.  I now play a multi-faceted role that includes direct variant assessment, pipeline development, data analysis, and cross-department bioinformatics liaison.