Draghici earns prestigious IEEE Fellow distinction for contributions to genomics
Sorin Draghici, professor of computer science in the Wayne State University College of Engineering, was elected an IEEE Fellow, an accolade reserved for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) members whose extraordinary accomplishments in their fields are deemed worthy. Draghici was recognized for contributions to the analysis of high-throughput genomics and proteomics data.
Draghici leads the Intelligent Systems and Bioinformatics Laboratory at Wayne State and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the WSU School of Medicine. His research is focused on artificial intelligence, machine learning and data mining techniques applied to bioinformatics and computational biology. He has published two best-selling books on data analysis of high-throughput genomics data, eight book chapters, and more than 160 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers.
“I am very grateful for everything that Wayne State has provided over the years,” said Draghici. “The environment here is a great combination of a university with very high research activity and a collegial atmosphere in which everybody has the opportunity to do great work — and everything is in the middle of a vibrant city undergoing a tremendous revival.”
In addition to being a senior member of IEEE, Draghici has served as editor of numerous journals, including IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, and International Journal of Functional Informatics and Personalized Medicine.
He is also the founder and CEO of Advaita Bioinformatics, an Ann Arbor-based company spun out of Draghici’s research at Wayne State. Advaita’s technology — including its patented intelligent software iPathwayGuide — has been supported by more than $4.5 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and other agencies. The company provides its bioinformatics platforms to more than 18,000 users worldwide.
IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. The IEEE Fellow is one of the most prestigious honors given, as less than one tenth of a percent of IEEE voting members are selected annually for fellow status, which comes after a rigorous evaluation and outstanding contributions to their profession.