Paul Boyle Paul Boyle, B.E., M.S.

* Dec 13, 1979 in Killybegs, Ireland
† Nov 29, 2004 in Houston, Texas

In Memoriam

We remember our coworker and friend Paul Boyle who passed away in 2004 in a tragic accident. Below you can find Paul's original web site updated with some posthumous information. You can also read here the official statements by President Willerson and Dean Smith, and the eulogy by Dr. Wriggers (these links lead to PDF files). The School of Biomedical Informatics at University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston has sponsored an annual award named after Paul which honors outstanding international students at the School. Biomachina members Valerio Mariani and Mirabela Rusu were the 2005 and 2007 recipients.

Brief CV

9/1997 - 5/2000 : National Diploma in Computer Engineering, Letterkenny Institute of Technology, Ireland
9/2000 - 5/2002 : B.E. in Electronics & Computer Engineering , National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
9/2003 - 5/2005: M.S. in Health Informatics, University of Texas Health Science Center, School of Biomedical Informatics

Positions

6/1999 - 9/2000 : Technician, Barry Electronics Ltd, Ireland
5/2001 - 11/2001 : Software Developer, 3Com Technlogies, Ireland
6/2002 - 10/2002 : Helpdesk Reprsentative, University of San Diego
9/2003 - 11/2004 : Graduate Research Assistant, Laboratories for Biocomputing and Imaging of Dr. Willy Wriggers, University of Texas Health Science Center, School of Biomedical Informatics

Research

Paul developed a new release of Situs with Dr. Willy Wriggers.  The Situs program package is for the modeling of atomic resolution structures into low-resolution density maps e.g. from electron microscopy, tomography, or small angle X-ray scattering.

Also, he carried out Molecular Dynamics simulations to study the Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) protein.  By implementing the technique of Disulfide Scrambling to produce non-native disulfide bonds, multiple simulations of mutant EGF were performed.  Analysis elucidated why certain non-native disulfide bond patterns are preferred rather than the native disulfide bond pattern in EGF. Paul's project was completed and published on the second anniversary of his death by Dr. Zhiyong Zhang.

Software

MapViewer is a software program Paul developed in C++ that allows for the inspection of volumeric maps generated from electron microscopy.  The only map format that it supports is the Situs format.  To download the Windows executeable click here, or for the linux zip file click here. MapViewer was later merged with Sculptor.

Publications

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