Bernard Moret appointed Full Professor

14 December 2005

A Catalyst for Bioinformatics

Bernard Moret is one of researchers who pioneered"algorithmic engineering," a technical discipline that produces computational methods with valuable theoretical and practical applications. Recently, his research has focused on algorithmic issues in bioinformatics, and more specifically phylogenetics, the study of the evolution of species. In 2004, he developed a new reconstruction method for processing groups of about a hundred thousand organisms, two orders of magnitude more than was possible prior to that point.

Given the development of life sciences and the significant presence of bioindustry and pharmaceutical companies in Switzerland, the School of Computer & Communication Sciences has been seeking for some years to enhance its research and teaching base in bioinformatics. Thanks to his numerous successful experiments carried out in cooperation with researchers in biology, biostatistics and genetics, Bernard Moret will be able to use his talents to organize major interdisciplinary research projects. His interest in comparative genomics will enable him to work hand in hand with researchers from the ISREC and the ISB, thus strengthening the ties already forged between the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and these institutions. He will also be a catalyst for attracting several young bioinformatics researchers. Bernard Moret, who holds dual Swiss and American citizenship, was born in Vevey in 1953. He earned a degree in electrical engineering from the EPFL in 1975 and obtained his Masters and PhD from the University of Tennessee, also in electrical engineering. In August 1980, he joined the University of New Mexico's Department of Computer Science, where he was appointed Full Professor in 1993. From 1991 to 1993, he was Department Chairman. In 1995, he founded the ACM Journal of Experimental Algorithms, of which he was Editor-in-chief until 2003. That year, he became Director of the CIPRES project, which regroups some 15 institutions, including UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UT Austin, and Yale University, and over 50 researchers. In the past ten years, Bernard Moret has authored and co-authored six volumes and 60 publications in specialized journals. He has also organized several internationally renowned conferences.

journaliste: Florence Luy