Welcome
The Helix Group at Stanford is directed by Russ Altman, and focuses on the creation and application of computational tools to solve problems in biology and medicine. Current application projects include the study of structure-function relationships in macromolecular structure, understanding the structure and folding of RNA molecules, and analyzing the relationship of genotype and phenotype, particularly with respect to the response to drugs. Techniques used include knowledge representation, database design, machine learning, natural language processing, physics-based simulation and graph-based modeling/analysis.
History of the Helix Group
The helix is a central symbol of molecular biology, because of its role in both DNA structure (the double helix, proposed by Watson & Crick in 1953) and protein structure (the alpha-helix, predicted by Linus Pauling in 1951).
The Helix research group at Stanford is led by Russ Altman, who has been on the faculty at Stanford since 1992. From 1984-1988, the Helix Group was led by Bruce Buchanan in the Department of Computer Science, as part of the Knowledge Systems Laboratory (KSL). Russ did his PhD in Bruce's lab 1984-1989, and during this time the Helix Group was housed at 701 Welch Road, Building C. Bruce moved to the University of Pittsburgh in 1988, and the Helix Group at Stanford hibernated for a while. In 1992, Russ joined the Department of Medicine, and he took the Helix group name to honor Bruce. The group was initially located physically in the Medical School Office Building (MSOB), within the Division of General Internal Medicine, and became part of the Stanford Medical Informatics (SMI) division of the Department of Medicine when the SMI was formed in 1994. In 2001, Russ moved his primary appointment to the Department of Genetics, and the Helix Group thus became part of this department. With the completion of the Clark Center in 2003, and the renovation of space in Genetics, the Helix Group found its current home: the second floor of the Clark South Building, and the third floor of the Lane building in Genetics.