research:alex_essebier [bioinf]

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**Alex Essebier**

Email: a.essebier@uq.edu.au

LinkedIn: [[https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-essebier-6a707486/|AlexEssebier]]

Alex completed her undergraduate degrees in Science (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) and Information Technology at the University of Queensland in 2013 then her Master of Bioinformatics in 2015. Alex first developed an interest in bioinformatics in her second year of university when she discovered it would allow her to solve a variety of biological problems through the application of her programming skills. She has undertaken a number of research projects over the last four years as part of Mikael Bodén’s group at UQ. These projects involved large biological datasets and allowed Alex to explore big data techniques to extract relevant patterns and relationships. Her main focus is on the use of machine learning to analyse high-throughput genomic datasets. 

She is currently enrolled as a PhD student investigating the application of machine learning to predict long distance regulatory interactions. The ability to accurately detect these interactions can improve our understanding of developmental disorders and diseases such as cancer. Alex’s multidisciplinary background has allowed her to provide bioinformatic insight on a number of research projects engaging with multiple collaborators. It has also provided her with the skills to drive her own research and work toward developing new bioinformatic tools and techniques.

**Publications**
  * Fraser, J., Essebier, A., et al. (2018). Granule neuron precursor cell proliferation is regulated by NFIX and intersectin 1 during postnatal cerebellar development. Brain Structure and Function :1-17.
  * Essebier, A., Lamprecht, M., Piper, M., & Boden, M. (2017). Bioinformatics approaches to predict target genes from transcription factor binding data. Methods. 131:111-119.
  * Essebier, A., Wolf, P. V., Cao, M. D., Carroll, B. J., Balasubramanian, S., & Bodén, M. (2016). Statistical Enrichment of Epigenetic States Around Triplet Repeats that Can Undergo Expansions. Frontiers in neuroscience, 10. 
  * Harris, L., Zalucki, O., Gobius, I., McDonald, H., Osinki, J., Harvey, T. J., ... & Heng, J. I. (2016). Transcriptional regulation of intermediate progenitor cell generation during hippocampal development. Development, 143(24), 4620-4630. 
  * Fraser, J., Essebier, A., Gronostajski, R. M., Boden, M., Wainwright, B. J., Harvey, T. J., & Piper, M. (2016). Cell-type-specific expression of NFIX in the developing and adult cerebellum. Brain Structure and Function, 1-20.

**Conferences**
  * Essebier, A. and Bodén, M. (2016). Combining high throughput sequencing data to improve identification of transcription factor binding. ABACBS. Poster with short talk.
  * Essebier, A. (2016). Processing, integrating and analyzing chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) data. Winter school in mathematical and computational biology (UQ). Oral presentation.
  * Essebier, A. and Bodén, M. (2015). Identify functional patterns in high throughput binding assays. ABACBS. Oral presentation.
  * Essebier, A., Cao, M.D. and Bodén, M. (2013). On the epigenetic homogeneity of tri-nucleotide repeats. UQ undergraduate research conference. Oral presentation.


**Awards**
  * Best speaker (early career researcher) at the 2016 winter school in mathematical and computational biology.
  * The master of molecular biology and master of bioinformatics prize 2015 (UQ): awarded to the graduating student with the highest cumulative GPA in the year of the award
  * A winter research scholarship (UQ, 2013) to conduct a short research project exploring triplet repeats that can undergo expansions.
  * A summer research scholarship (UQ, 2012) to conduct a short research project exploring triplet repeats that can undergo expansions.
  * An undergraduate research experience scholarship (IMB/UQ, 2012) to conduct a short research project exploring gene regulatory networks in yeast.