Computer Science Associate Professor, Huzefa Rangwala, another researcher-scholar-creator award winner explained that his field, bioinformatics, works on the same principles as Netflix; both make recommendations based on previous behaviors. Collaborating with chemists and others, Rangwala is working with "recommended molecules," taking data mining several steps forward, and inventing new computer software solutions to discover hidden patterns. That research advances biology and the work of clinicians.
Rangwala's research interests include data mining, bioinformatics, learning analytics and high-performance computing. He was also the recipient of a long string of teaching and research awards from Mason and other institutions in recent years. His research is funded by NSF, NIH, DARPA, NRL and USDA.
"Data mining is not just looking at phone numbers," said Rangwala but exploring and discovering the unknown. It leads to many innovations in varied fields. For example, Rangwala employs data-mining to analyze the behavior of bacteria in the human body, and to look at the whole spectrum of data in disease processes from inflammatory bowel disease to obesity. The fun part, according to Rangwala, is that while he is advancing medicine working with clinicians, he's also advancing computer science.
Rangwala's work, like many of Mason's top researchers is cross-disciplinary. He is collaborating with Siddhartha Sikdar, associate professor of Bioengineering, on a NSF-funded project to produce a prototype for a prosthetic arm.
The project focuses on amputees who have no forearm, and the team is striving to develop a prosthetic arm that duplicates complex movements of the arm and hand. "You have muscular signature remnants in your arm," explained Rangwala, " which can be found with ultrasound probes." The aim is to replicate the patterns in muscle movements using a combination of robotics, electrical engineering and bioengineering.
His interests are far ranging, and he credits the graduate students and colleagues he works with, as well as his mentors, with helping him advance his work. His own mentoring, which he does with undergraduates, graduate students and high school students fuels his own fascination with the learning process. It's a question that involves innate physical and intellectual abilities, cultures and the art of teaching, and it's another research area where data mining may help people.
A version of this story by Molly Brauer orignially appeared on the Office of Research and Economic Development webpage.