I am a computer scientist and bioinformatician with over 15 years of experience in bioinformatics and computational methods. I graduated with a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics from the University of Hertfordshire (UK) in 2012). My initial research involved data mining big scale genetic and epigenetic data to identify novel genes and gene regulatory networks. I have extensive experience of genome-wide transcriptomic, genetic, and epigenetic analysis and next generation sequencing data analysis. Currently, my research interest involves in pattern recognition and machine learning for analysing, understanding and improving computational prediction of disease, phenotypes and functions relating to human health. I have track record of developing bioinformatics tools and pipelines, including: GEO import, Single Sample DNA Methylation Data Analysis. I was awarded the prestigious Turing fellowship and his research at Turing included a pilot project applying deep learning approach on patient data from Electronic Health Record Systems (EHRS).
I enjoy teaching and have over 12 years of experience. I am currently acting as the coordinator, lecturer and supervisor in undergraduate modules and projects at the Department of Computer Science. I am also supervising doctoral students. I am a Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and has obtained the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice.
Dr. Faisal I. Rezwan
Senior Lecturer in Bioinformatics
Department of Computer Science at Aberystwyth University.
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
e-mail: f.rezwan at aber dot ac dot uk
ORCID id: 0000-0001-9921-222X
Latest news
- Published: A Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium (PACE) meta-analysis highlights potential relationships between birth order and neonatal blood DNA methylation. Commun Biol.;7(1):66. doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-05698-x.(9 January 2024)
- Published: Insights into the influence of diet and genetics on feed efficiency and meat production in sheep. Anim Genet.;55(1):20-46.doi: 10.1111/age.13383. (1 February 2024)
- Published: Analysis of DNA methylation at birth and in childhood reveals changes associated with season of birth and latitude. Clin Epigenetics.;15(1):148. doi: 10.1186/s13148-023-01542-5. (11 September 2023)
Ongoing projects
Utilisation of recorded voice samples for developing a machine learning framework to predict pulmonary functions.We designed a threshold-based mechanism to separate speech and breathing from voice recordings in controlled environment and developed machine learning (ML) models which can predict lung function, severity of lung function abnormality and lung function abnormality.The findings from this project will not only address the challenge of handling voice recording data for appropriately separating speech and breathing to extract features to develop prediction models with high accuracy but also have potential in implementing as a smartphone application in the future, offering a convenient and straightforward way to assess respiratory health for individuals.
A 3D electrocardiogram (ECG) analyser model. We have developed a prototype software tool to visualise the electrical signature of heart produced from electrocardiogram (ECG) data. These new tool generates a summary description of the electrical signature in a numerical format for data analysis to produce initial 3D shapes of heart signals.This pilot project aims to develop robust software package which can produce a 3D visualisation of heart and integrate the functionality of diagnosing various heart conditions, with the use of 3D shape recognition, utilising machine learning, to mark the position of defect in the heart related to the condition.
Prediction model for pediatric asthma. Respiratory symptoms are common in early life and often transient. It is difficult to identify in which children these will persist and result in asthma. Machine learning (ML) approaches have the potential for better predictive performance and generalisability over existing childhood asthma prediction models. This study applied machine learning approaches to predict school-age asthma (age 10) in early life and at preschool age.
Pregnancy And Childhood Epigenetics (PACE). PACE consortium is comprised of researchers at NIEHS and around the world who are interested in studying the early life environmental impacts on human disease using epigenetics. Epigenetics refers to modifications to DNA that do not alter the DNA sequence.
Genetics of DNA Methylation (GoDMC). GoDMC was established with the view of bringing together researchers with an interest in studying the genetic basis of DNA methylation variation, to consolidate as many resources and expertise as possible and thereby expedite this field of research.To date, GoDMC comprises representatives from 50+ research groups. Together these groups have the potential to contribute data from multiple sources including a range of population, birth and disease specific cohorts, capturing a range of ages and ethnic backgrounds. Details on these cohorts can be found here .
Selected publications
I have published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers. Following are some of my selected publications. The full list of publications can be found at Orcid.
Links to free open-access, preprints and e-prints are included where available. Some publisher links may be non-free.Presentation slides and other extra materials are sometimes included.
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A Pregnancy and Childhood Epigenetics Consortium (PACE) meta-analysis highlights potential relationships between birth order and neonatal blood DNA methylation. .
MLi, S., Spitz, N., Ghantous, A., Abrishamcar, S., Reimann, B., Marques, I., Silver, M.J., Aguilar-Lacasaña, S., Kitaba, N., Rezwan, F.I., Röder, S., Sirignano, L., Tuhkanen, J., Mancano, G., Sharp, G.C., Metayer, C., Morimoto, L., Stein, D.J., Zar, H.J. and Alfano, R..
Communication Biology 2024
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Analysis of DNA methylation at birth and in childhood reveals changes associated with season of birth and latitude. .
Latha Kadalayil, Alam, Z., [and 101 others, including Rezwan, F. I. as the senior author].
Clinical Epigenetics 2023
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Fathers’ preconception smoking and offspring DNA methylation. .
Negusse Tadesse Kitaba, Knudsen, M., Johannessen, A., Rezwan, F.I., Andrei Malinovschi, Oudin, A., Bryndis Benediktsdottir, Martino, D., Javier, F., Leopoldo Palacios Gómez, Holm, M., Nils Oskar Jõgi, Dharmage, S.C., Svein Magne Skulstad, Watkins, S., Suderman, M., Gómez-Real, F., Vivi Schlünssen, Cecilie Svanes and Holloway, J.W..
Clinical Epigenetics 2023
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Current state and prospects of artificial intelligence in allergy .
Merlijn van Breugel, Rudolf S.N. Fehrmann, Marnix Bügel, Rezwan, F.I., Holloway, J.W., Martijn Nawijn, Fontanella, S., Adnan Custovic and Koppelman, G..
Allergy 2023
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Predicting pulmonary function from the analysis of voice: A machine learning approach.
Alam, MZ, Simonetti, A, Brillantino, R, Tayler, N, Grainge, C, Siribaddana, P, Nouraei, SAR, Batchelor, J, Rahman, MS, Mancuzo, EV, Holloway, JW, Holloway, JA and Rezwan, FI.
Frontiers in Digital Health 2022
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Integration of genomic risk scores to improve the prediction of childhood asthma diagnosis.
Kothalawala, DM, Kadalayil, L, Curtin, JA, Murray, CS, Simpson, A, Custovic, A, Tapper, WJ, Arshad, SH, Rezwan, FI* and Holloway, JW*. (*= joint senior author)
Journal of Personized Medicine 2022
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Development of childhood asthma prediction models using machine learning approaches.
Kothalawala, DM, Murray, CS, Simpson, A, Custovic, A, Tapper, WJ, Arshad, SH, Holloway, JW and Rezwan, FI.
Clinical and Translational Allergy 2021
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Genomic and phenotypic insights from an atlas of genetic effects on DNA methylation..
Min, JL, Hemani, G, Hannon, E, Dekkers, KF, [and others, including Rezwan, FI].
Nature Genetics 2021
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Prediction models for childhood asthma: a systematic review .
Kothalawala, DM, Kadalayil, L, Weiss, VBN, Kyyaly, MA, Arshad, SH, Holloway, JW and Rezwan, FI.
Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 2020
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Epigenome-Wide Association Study Reveals Duration of Breastfeeding is Associated with Epigenetic Differences in Children.
Sherwood, WB, Kothalawala, DM, Kadalayil, L, Ewart, S, Zhang, H, Karmaus, W, Arshad, SH, Holloway, JW and Rezwan, FI.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020
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Association of adult lung function with accelerated biological aging.
Rezwan, FI, Imboden, M, Amaral, AF, Wielscher, M, Jeong, A, Triebner, K, Real, FG, Jarvelin, M, Jarvis, D, Probst-Hensch, NM and Holloway, JW.
Aging 2020
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Epigenome-wide association of father’s smoking with offspring DNA methylation: a hypothesis-generating study.
Mørkve Knudsen, GT*, Rezwan, FI*, Johannessen, A, Skulstad, SM, Bertelsen, RJ, Real, FG, Krauss-Etschmann, S, Patil, V, Jarvis, D, Arshad, SH, Holloway, JW and Svanes, C. (* = joint first author)
Environmental Epigenetics 2019
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Duration of breastfeeding is associated with leptin (LEP) DNA methylation profiles and BMI in 10-year-old children.
Sherwood, WB, Bion, V, Lockett, GA, Ziyab, AH, Soto-Ramírez, N, Mukherjee, N, Kurukulaaratchy, RJ, Ewart, S, Zhang, H, Arshad, SH, Karmaus, W, Holloway, JW and Rezwan, FI.
Clinical Epigenetics 2019
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Trans- and inter-generational epigenetic inheritance in allergic diseases.
Mørkve Knudsen, T*,Rezwan, FI*, Jiang, Y, Karmaus, W, Svanes, C and Holloway, JW. (* = joint first author)
Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2018
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Association of season of birth with DNA methylation and allergic disease.
Lockett, GA, Soto-Ramírez, N, Ray, MA, Everson, TM, Xu, C, Patil, VK, Terry, W, Kaushal, A, Rezwan, FI, Ewart, SL, Gehring, U, Postma, DS, Koppelman, GH, Arshad, SH, Zhang, H, Karmaus, W and Holloway, JW.
Allergy 2016
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A statistical method for single sample analysis of humanmethylation450 array data: Genome-wide methylation analysis of patients with imprinting disorders.
Rezwan, FI, Docherty, LE, Poole, RL, Lockett, GA, Arshad, SH, Holloway, JW, Temple, IK and Mackay, DJ.
Clinical Epigenetics 2015
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Mutations in NLRP5 are associated with reproductive wastage and multilocus imprinting disorders in humans.
Docherty, LE,Rezwan, FI*, Poole, RL, Turner, CLS, Kivuva, E, Maher, ER, Smithson, SF, Hamilton-Shield, JP, Patalan, M, Gizewska, M, Peregud-Pogorzelski, J, Beygo, J, Buiting, K, Horsthemke, B, Soellner, L, Begemann, M, Eggermann, T, Baple, E, Mansour, S, Temple, IK and Mackay, DJG. (* = joint first author)
Nature Communications 2015