Academic Resume | Dion Amago

Dion Whitehead Amago

2011-present Senior Software Engineer at Idle Games, Inc.
2011-2012 Independent software developer.
2008-2010 Software developer at Three Rings Design. Designed web-based multiplayer online games.
2005-2008 Postdoc fellowship, Institute of Evolution & Biodiversity, Münster University, Germany.

2002-2005 PhD in Bioinformatics, NRW Graduate School, Bielefeld University, Germany. Grade: 1.0.
2000-2001 Post-graduate Diploma in Genetics, Massey University, New Zealand.
1996-2000 B.Sc. Immunology & Virology, Massey University, New Zealand.

Programming languages, in order of expertise: Python, Java, SQL, R, HaXe, Actionscript, Javascript, Bash, Matlab, Perl.
Statistical programming and visualization (using R, Python, and a Matlab).
Microarray analysis, mostly with Bioconductor, and visualization.
Modeling and simulations, especially large scale distributed simulations.
Databases, both SQL and NoSQL, in order of experience: MySql, PostgreSql, Redis.
Distributed computing (Condor, for simulations), and cloud computing (Amazon Cloudfront).
Web development, client and servers-side.
Regarding bioinformatics, computational biology, and web development, I can probably built it quickly and effectively.
Languages: English (primary), German (teaching level).
Version control systems, SVN and Git primarily.
Game development, both flash and javascript client, and Java/HaXe server side aspects.

Bioinformatics I Practicals: Molekulare Evolution und Genomik (German)
Bioinformatics III (Biocomputing: Python) Lectures [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Introduction to R: Lecture 1 (R basics) pdf, Lecture 2 (Statistics up to 2-way ANOVA) pdf, Data sets used in R lectures: Beet.csv, worms.txt“, drugs.txt, drugs2.txt
Introduction to Microarrays (German) pdf

I love technology, and greatly enjoy programming, especially Haxe and Python. I am lucky to have my hobby also be my profession.
I am greatly interested in evolution, as I see this as the most exciting story on the planet, a story with an immense history, and an exciting but uncertain future.
How gene networks evolve during development, stress response, and in the presence of biochemical noise.
Microarray analysis, as applied to plant stress response.
How mutations affect evolution, e.g. gene duplications and phenotypic mutations.
Visualisation of complex data.

Evolutionary adaption to noise by signalling networks. D. Whitehead, L. Wissler. In revision.
Osmotic and salt stress response in Arabidopsis. D. Whitehead, J. Kilian, J. Kudla and E. Bornberg-Bauer. In revision.
The look-ahead effect of phenotypic mutations.. D. Whitehead, Claus Wilke, D. Vernazobres and E. Bornberg-Bauer. *Biology Direct * (2008).
The AtGenExpress global stress expression data set: Protocols, evaluation and model data analysis of UV-B light, drought and cold stress responses. J. Kilian, D. Whitehead, J. Horak, D. Wanke, S. Weinl, O. Batistic, C. D’Angelo, E. Bornberg-Bauer, J. Kudla and K. Harter. Plant J (2007).
Chapter 13: Evolution of Regulatory Networks, Systems Biology Applied to Toxicogenomics. Amelie Veron, Dion Whitehead, et. el François Képès (ed.). World Scientific (2007).
Reconstructing gene function and gene regulatory networks in prokaryotes. Dion Whitehead. PhD Thesis (2005).
Handbook of Toxicogenomics: Strategies and Applications 13: Systems Biology Applied to Toxicogenomics. Klaus Prank, Matthias Hoechsmann, Bjoern Oleson, Thomas Schmidt, Leila Taher, Dion Whitehead, Jürgen Borlak (ed.). John Wiley & Sons (2005).
Evaluating an Evolutionary Approach for Reconstructing Gene Regulatory Networks. Whitehead, D. and Skusa, A. and Kennedy, P.J. Ninth International Conference on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems (2004).