Journey to the Jude: Bioinformatics analyst answers his calling in journey from Kosovo to St. Jude

During the Kosovo War of the late 1990s, Besian Sejdiu, PhD, and his family left the small city of Skenderaj and sought refuge in Germany. ?

During that trying period, Sejdiu stood strong?with the same tenacity that he now applies to his work at St. Jude where he is a senior bioinformatics analyst exploring biological questions that can advance diagnoses and treatments in childhood diseases.?

Sejdiu joined?St. Jude in December 2020 to work with renowned researcher M. Madan Babu, PhD, Center of Excellence for Data Driven Discovery director. ?

"When you are a young scientist, the person who guides you matters a lot. I was familiar with Dr. Babu's research while doing my PhD. He is a truly remarkable scientist," Sejdiu says.

"I'm lucky to work under his supervision and leadership because there are only a few scientists with his expertise in the world who are at his level," Sejdiu says.?

Using leading technologies and different data science approaches, Sejdiu and his fellow researchers are working to build support and provide evidence for biological questions that can help advance diagnoses and treatments at St. Jude and beyond.?

"During the last few decades, there has been an explosion in the amount of data that has been built or developed during scientific research. This includes data on the cell level, genome level, structural data and many other types of data," he says. "So, the question is 'How can we integrate the data, and how can we make sense of all the data that is available?'"?

In addition to using publicly available data, Sejdiu says the research group generates data through different types of methods, including molecular dynamics simulations and virtual screening.?

?"With molecular dynamics simulations, it's basically a computational microscope that allows us to use supercomputers to simulate the movement of atoms and entire systems—the dynamics of proteins and other molecules, their interactions and how they move," he says. "That allows us to get insights into important functional aspects of those proteins, which we would not be able to do using conventional experimental methods."?

Sejdiu is proud to work at an organization that is a locally, nationally and internationally respected driving force in research, pediatrics and employee recruitment. ?

?"It's also really nice to see how much people?cherish St. Jude," Sejdiu says. ?

"When I learned I had been hired at St. Jude, it was big news for my family.?Our village shared in our joy too, and they are proud."?

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Story by Sasha Steinberg.?