Andrew Willems

Graduate Student

Genome Science and Technology

E-mail: awillems@vols.utk.edu

Education & Training

B.S.   Biological Sciences, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.


Bio

Andrew is an aspiring computational biologist pursing his Ph.D. in the lab. He acquired his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, cellular & molecular biology (BCMB) in 2017 from UT. Prior to joining the Hong lab he worked in the lab of Dr. Sarah Lebeis helping elucidate the interplay of host-microbe interactions in the model system Alfalfa via computational tools. He is interested in the intersection of big data, deep learning, and modeling to solve complex problems related to healthcare. Specifically, he is interested in applying these fields to understand the progression of various diseases such as cancer, and by working to build new tools to aid experimentalists in generating new hypotheses. In his free time, he enjoys walking and running on the extensive greenway network in Knoxville, reading anything and everything non-fiction, and spending time with his close friends.

 


Publications

Mykins M, Layo-Carris D, Dunn LR, Skinner DW, McBryar AH, Perez S, Shultz TR, Willems A, Lau BY, Hong T, Krishnan K. Wild-type MECP2 expression coincides with age-dependent sensory phenotypes in a female mouse model for Rett syndrome. J Neurosci Res 2023;00:1–23
[Link] [Article]

Willems A, Panchy N, Hong T. Using Single-Cell RNA Sequencing and MicroRNA Targeting Data to Improve Colorectal Cancer Survival Prediction. Cells 2023, 12(2):228
[Link] [Article]

Panchy N, Watanabe K, Takahashi M, Willems A, Hong T. Comparative single-cell transcriptomes of dose and time dependent epithelial–mesenchymal spectrums. NAR Genom Bioinform 2022, 4(3):lqac072 (Editor’s choice)
[Link] [Article]

Willems A, Hong T. Fate decisions of CD4+ T Cells (book chapter) In: Kraikivski P. (eds) Case Studies in Systems Biology. Springer, Cham. 2021, pp 149-162
[Link]

Li C-J, Liau ES, Lee Y-H, Huang Y-Z, Liu Z, Willems A, Garside V, McGlinn E, Chen J-A, Hong T. MicroRNAs govern bistable cell differentiation and lineage segregation via noncanonical feedback. Mol Syst Biol 2021, 17:e9945
[Link] [Article]

Moccia, K., Papoulis S., Willems, A., Marion, Z., Fordyce, J., & Lebeis, S. Using the Microbiome Amplification Preference Tool (MAPT) to reveal Medicago sativa associated eukaryotic microbes. Phytobiomes Journal ja (2020).

Moccia, K, Willems, A, Papoulis, S., Flores, A., Forister, M. L., Fordyce, J. A., & Lebeis, S. L. Distinguishing nutrient-dependent plant driven bacterial colonization patterns in alfalfa. Environmental Microbiology Reports 12.1 (2020): 70-77.