Dr. Rakesh Kaundal

Dr. Rakesh Kaundal

Phone: +1 (435) 797-4117
Email: rkaundal@usu.edu

Dr. Rakesh Kaundal

Department of Plants, Soils and Climate

     Associate Professor, Bioinformatics

Center for Integrated BioSystems
(College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences)

     Director, Bioinformatics Facility

Department of Computer Science
(College of Science)

     Adjunct Associate Professor

Biography

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

Highly successful track record of integrating biology and bigdata analytics with over 14 years’ experience in bioinformatics, computational biology, and scientific programming. In-depth knowledge of bioinformatics data analysis tools and databases, information management, and integration to support diverse activities essential for organismal improvement and genomics-enabled studies.

Research Interests

Next-generation sequencing data (analysis, alignment, assembly, annotation); Computational modeling of -omics big data; Systems biology, develop algorithms to study intra- and inter-species interaction networks (e.g. host-pathogen interactions), predict Gene Regulatory Networks; Metagenomics (e.g. rhizosphere microbiome interacting with the host); Computational genomics. Develop workflows to facilitate data mining; Develop and maintain scientific software/tools.

Education

  1. 2007-2011

    Postdoctoral Fellow (Bioinformatics)

    Noble Foundation, Ardmore (OK), USA
  2. 2006

    Ph.D. (Plant Breeding & Genetics)

    Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, India
  3. 2004

    PGDBI (Bioinformatics)

    Sikkim Manipal University, India
  4. 1998

    M.Sc. (Plant Breeding & Genetics)

    CSK HP Agricultural University, India
  5. 1995

    B.Sc. (Agriculture)

    CSK HP Agricultural University, India

Professional Appointments

Jul 2017 - Present
Associate Professor, Bioinformatics
Utah State University (USU), Logan, Utah, USA
Jul 2017 - Present
Director, Bioinformatics Facility, Center for Integrated BioSystems (CIB)
Utah State University (USU), Logan, Utah, USA
Jul 2017 - Present
Adjunct Associate Professor, Computer Science
Utah State University (USU), Logan, Utah, USA
Jul 2014 - May 2017
Director, High-Performance Computing | Bioinformatics Facility, Institute for Integrative Genome Biology (IIGB)
University of California, Riverside (UCR), California, USA
Apr 2007 - Mar 2011
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Bioinformatics Lab, Plant Biology Division
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, Oklahoma, USA

Awards & Prizes

2013 - 1st Prize
OSU President’s Cup for creative interdisciplinarity in bioinformatics and computational biology
2012 - 3rd Prize
OSU President’s Cup for creative interdisciplinarity on the project “EDNA: Powerful New Technology for Electronic Diagnostic Nucleic acid Analysis”
2003 - Qualified National Eligibility Test (NET-ICAR)
Conducted by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, India
2002 - 3rd Prize best award for poster paper presentation (Weather-based forewarning of rice blast in H.P.)
International Conference on Challenges and Options for Sustainable Development of the Himalayas - Beyond 2002, held at CSK HPAU, Palampur, India