About Dr. Datta, Ph.D., MSSE

While working on glycogenes at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), Dr. Datta pursued an MS in Software Engineering from National University (NU, San Diego, CA). The evening program at National University allowed him to gain valuable knowledge in computer science while earning his degree. This expertise proved beneficial when writing the microarray/bioinformatics section of the Glue Grant on Glycobiology (PI: James C. Paulson, Ex-President, TSRI), which received NIH funding from NIGMS (see Datta's article on glycobioinformatics). He also had the opportunity to work with Prof. C-H Wong (Ex-President of Academia Sinica and a member of the National Science Academy) at TSRI before joining National University as a full-time faculty member.

Since April 2000, Prof. Datta has been teaching Computer Science at the National University. He also served as the Director of Technology R&D at the National University Community Research Institute (NUCRI) from 2004 to 2014. NUCRI acted as a bridge between National University and the community, developing tools and technologies to empower local communities. His group developed various software tools for the State of Illinois and National City for their school health programs.

Dr. Datta frequently guides MSCS students on their Capstone Projects. As the Director of NUCRI, he supervised technical interns working on various software development projects. He has also been involved with XSEDE program (now ACCESS) of the National Science Foundation, serving as the Campus Champion until recently. Additionally, he organized numerous technical events at local and international conferences, promoting the use of technology to improve healthcare and raise awareness. For example, in 2009, he organized a panel discussion on H1N1, which was a significant concern at the time, with experts from the CDC, San Diego Supercomputing Center, and the University of Texas. See: Cyberinfrastructure in Healthcare Management. Arun K. Datta (moderator), Terry Boyd, Wilfred Li, Fang-Pang Lin, Stanley J. Watowich, Peter Arzberger. Proceedings in the SC09: The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis, Portland (OR), November 14-20, 2009.

Dr. Datta also supervised the 'InCommunity' event, promoting 'Cyberinfrastructure' in the community, an NSF-funded project of HASTAC in 2006-2007. His community service includes involvement with the San Diego North Economic Development Council, which promotes economically beneficial community activities. He has also served on the Gandhi Scholarship Committee of the San Diego Indian American Society, awarding scholarships to talented students pursuing higher education after high school graduation. In recognition of his community service, he received the 'Outstanding Service Award' from National University in 2008.

With a keen interest in Big Data Science, Dr. Datta often attends workshops for hands-on experience in data analysis software, particularly focusing on Big Data analysis. He has participated in workshops on Gordon (UCSD) and EupathDB (University of Georgia), among others. With his extensive experience in glycoscience, he is now deeply interested in working on the Glycocode, particularly for Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (see: cdgcare.org).

  • More than 20 years of experience on Project Management
  • Expertise on Biomedical Informatics (Health Informatics and Bioinformatics, particularly, Glycobioinformatics)
  • Working experience on molecular biology (wet lab) and computational biology
  • Special interest on identifying Glycosylation defects in Congenital Disorders (CDG), Genomic & proteomic data Analysis, particularly for Precision Medicine
  • Served XSEDE in various capacities including Campus Champion program
  • Provided technology leadership for various programs (HASTAC, ARTCA, UCOP, etc)
  • Presently, his group (DCG) is engaged in developing software tools and technologies that can benefit glyco-community (see: Glycoscience Workbench). This group is developing an experimental AI chatbot tutor, termed Glycogenei, for learning glycoscience. Earlier, his group was involved in developing tools and technologies that improves healthcare delivery and remote monitoring of patients at the individualized level (see: Body Sensing System).
    Past Experience includes:
  • Alumni, Calcutta University
  • Alma mater, UW-Madison
  • Instructor (Pharmacology Dept.), UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSWMC), Dallas
  • Scientific staff (Molecular Biology Dept.), The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI)
  • Scientific staff, Indian Council of Medical Research
  • British Council Fellow, University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK; Dept. of Chemistry)
  • Ph.D. completed under late Prof. J. J. Ghosh (see: Prof. J. J. Ghosh Foundation)
  • Worked with Dr. V.M.Katoch (ICMR), David Minnikin (U-Ncl), Kuni Takayama (UW-Madison), Mark Lehrman (UTSWMC), James Paulson (TSRI), and Chi-Huey Wong (TSRI)