Dr Richard Edwards

Dr Richard Edwards

Adjunct Associate Professor
Science
School of Biotech & Biomolecular Science

About Me

My research interests stem from a fascination with the molecular basis of evolutionary change and how we can harness genetic sequence patterns to make useful predictions about biological systems. I started my academic career as a geneticist, modelling how transposable elements may be selectively retained and spread through a clonal population of bacteria. After my PhD, I moved into full-time bioinformatics, with a focus on protein sequence analysis. As a postdoc in Dublin, I devel...

Phone
02 9385-0490
E-mail
richard.edwards@unsw.edu.au
Location
Room 2110, E26 Bioscience South

One of the most important, interesting and challenging questions in biology is how new traits evolve at the molecular level. My lab employs sequence analysis techniques to interrogate protein and DNA sequences for the signals left behind by evolution. We are a bioinformatics lab but like to incorporate bench data through collaboration wherever possible. The core research in the lab is broadly divided into two main themes: (1) evolutionary genomics; (2) intrinsically disordered protein-protein interactions and short linear motifs (SLiMs).

Current active research projects have a focus on eukaryotic evolutionary genomics. We are using the latest generation of sequencing, assembly and scaffolding technologies (10x Chromium “linked reads”, PacBio, Oxford Nanopore, HiC) to assemble multiple species including venomous snakes, the cane toad, marsupials, dog breeds, and Australian flora. Multiple genomics-related projects are available through as range of species through various collaborations and consortia, including Oz Mammals Genomics, Genomics of Australian Plants, and Australian Amphibian and Reptile Genomics. Projects include annotating genomes and/or specific gene families, developing bioinformatics tools/workflows for assessing and tidying genome assemblies, and identifying/characterising ultraconserved elements. 

Overview of Edwards Lab research topics

Please visit the lab blog for details of current research: http://edwardslab.blogspot.com.au/p/research.html.