FACULTY CLUSTERS - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Associate Professor
• Chancellor

Dahlia Nielsen joined NC State in August 2014 as a Chancellor's Faculty Excellence Program cluster hire in Bioinformatics. She is an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and a resident member of the Bioinformatics Research Center. Her research focuses on methods development and applications in identifying genes' underlying complex traits, and on identifying genes that respond differently under different environmental, temporal or developmental conditions. One of her primary academic goals is to create an integrated research program combining methodological development with experimental approaches. A major focus of her lab involves translating traditional bioinformatics approaches into novel techniques for identifying and characterizing host-parasite interactions. Another area of interest is leveraging large public repositories of gene expression data to formulate interesting new research questions. Nielsen started along her research path as an undergraduate when she joined a scientific lab investigating the genetic basis of milk production in dairy cattle. She earned her bachelor of science in computer science at the University of Utah, and completed a master's degree in statistics and a Ph.D. in genetics at NC State. While she was finishing her Ph.D., she accepted a position in the bioinformatics group at GlaxoWellcome, Inc., where she worked for several years before returning to a research position at NC State in 2000.

Job Titles:

• Chancellor

The clusters program brings great momentum to the strategic goals outlined in Wolfpack 2030: Powering the Extraordinary. Our faculty's work across academic disciplines empowers students for success, ensures our prominence as an R1 university, advances our engagement locally, nationally and internationally, elevates our innovative problem-solving and partnerships, and much more.

Job Titles:

• Chancellor
• Join NC State As Assistant Professor Part of Digital Transformation of Education Cluster

Daniela (Ela) Castellanos-Reyes is the newest Chancellor's Faculty Excellence Program cluster hire at NC State University. In August, she will join NC State's Digital Transformation of Education cluster's interdisciplinary team and NC State's College of Education as an assistant professor of learning, design and technology. Currently, she is an National Academy of Education/Spencer Dissertation Fellow earning her Ph.D. in learning design and technology from Purdue University.

Job Titles:

• Senior Vice Provost for University Interdisciplinary Programs

Job Titles:

• Chancellor

Fred Wright joined NC State in August 2013 as a Chancellor's Faculty Excellence Program cluster hire in Bioinformatics, and as a professor in the Departments of Statistics and Biological Sciences. Wright is an internationally-known statistical geneticist, with wide-ranging interests including genomic bioinformatics, toxicogenomics and the statistical principles underlying high-dimensional data analysis. Wright is the director of the Bioinformatics Research Center (BRC), which has a strong history of research and training in statistical, evolutionary and computational methods applied to a variety of genomic problems. Wright will lead the expansion of the BRC's focus to additional cross-cutting activities in human health and complex systems. Wright received his bachelor of arts in statistics and psychology from the University at Buffalo, and a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Chicago. Previously, he was a professor of biostatistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and Carolina Center for Genome Sciences. He has been principal investigator of numerous grants, with activities ranging from development of new methods of gene mapping to expression-quantitative trait (eQTL) mapping for multiple tissues. He was also principal investigator of an EPA-funded STAR Center to apply genomics principles to long-standing problems in toxicology. Wright is one of the lead investigators in the International Cystic Fibrosis Genetic Modifier Consortium, seeking to unravel the unexpected complexities of this disease, which was once thought to be "simple" in its underlying genetics. While at UNC-CH, Wright fostered the development of a new statistical genetics curriculum, producing one of the most varied and rigorous programs among departments of biostatistics. He is an elected Fellow of the American Statistical Association and the Delta Omega Honor society for Public Health.

Job Titles:

• Professor

Nathan Crook receives NSF CAREER Award Professor Nathan Crook has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award for his proposal, "Enhancing Probiotic Yeast Colonization for Stable in Situ Biomanufacturing." The NSF describes CAREER awards as among its "… most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization."