News & Events
Bioinformatics Professor Kolchenko Fills His Life with Science and Song
Vasily Kolchenko is as dedicated to his biological research as he is to his music, and the results speak for themselves. The City Tech assistant professor is both an expert in the growing field of bioinformatics and an award-winning songwriter and performer.
“Bioinformatics,” Dr. Kolchenko explains, “is about expanding the understanding of complex systems, such as molecular structures and the foundations of life, through computer processing of relevant information.
“Twenty years ago the field did not exist,” he continues. “It started with the Human Genome Project, the effort to identify and understand the 20,000 to 25,000 genes in human DNA. It produced an avalanche of data and required urgent development of special computer tools for data storage and analysis. Bioinformatics allows us to find solutions to the ultimate mystery of life. I cannot imagine anything more important and interesting.”
Bioinformatics will play a significant role in scientific progress in gene therapy, genetic engineering of new drugs, materials, energy sources and environmental protection, developing body parts from stem cells, finding cures for cancer and delaying aging, among others.
“The progress will depend on a new generation of researchers gaining insights into the unknown,” says Kolchenko, who developed City Tech’s Elements of Bioinformatics course after developing a master’s level course for another college. “Here, at City Tech, we are bringing the excitement of cutting-edge research to the classroom.”
Kolchenko embodies the connection between science, mathematics and music; he holds a doctorate in physiology and a medical degree from Kiev Medical University, in addition to a master’s degree in mathematics from Kiev State University and an associate degree in music from Kiev College of Culture and Education.
Awarded the title of Laureate of the 2007 International Bulat Okudzhava Song Competition (named for the Russian equivalent of America’s Bob Dylan), he is equally adept at playing guitar and singing poetry (his own and others’) as he is at researching, writing about and teaching bioinformatics.
Kiev-born Kolchenko, who has been a musician since childhood, has more than 100 songs and three CDs to his credit. The Bay Ridge resident has performed at several city venues. His next performance is on November 22, 2:30 p.m., at the Mid-Manhattan Library, located at Fifth Avenue and 40th Street, sixth floor. Kolchenko will sing his own songs and new works based on the poems of O. Beshenkovskaya, M. Brif, E. Litisnkaya and M. Rabinovich. The public may call 212.576.0085 for more information about this free event, which will be conducted predominantly in Russian.
On the academic front, Kolchenko has been awarded grants from the Professional Staff Congress-City University of New York for his research projects in viral biosensing, which are conducted at Polytechnic Institute of NYU. Bio-sensing is the ability to quickly detect DNA, proteins and viruses down to the size of nanoparticles. Recently, he co-authored the article, “MicroParticle PhotoPhysics Illuminates Viral Bio-sensing,” for the prestigious scholarly journal Faraday Discussions, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
How did Kolchenko move from music to biosensors and biology in general? After earning his MD degree, says Kolchenko, “I headed the diagnostics lab at Kiev Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery, where my mentor was Nikolay Amosov. He was a famous surgeon, writer and scientist interested in computer modeling of complex systems, from cells to the human body, as well as the mind and society. He motivated me to earn a master of science degree in math.”
In 1994, Kolchenko moved to the U.S. Two years later he joined City Tech, first as an adjunct and eventually as a tenure-track assistant professor. Along the way he has taught courses in anatomy and physiology, general biology, human biology and pathophysiology in addition to bioinformatics.
Kolchenko has always been passionate about education, and for ten years he penned a column in Moscow’s pedagogical paper, First of September (traditionally the first day of school in Russia). Particularly rewarding for Kolchenko was his participation in the 9th and 10th Conferences on Student-centered Education and Collaborative Learning, held in Moscow. “In 2005 I presented a seminar called ‘Online Culture in Education: American Experience,’ and in 2006 a seminar titled ‘Education through Collaboration (Pedagogy of Collaboration) in the Western Practice,’” he says.
His involvement with his City Tech students’ education is far-ranging: Kolchenko advises the Biology Club and the Russian Cultural Club, mentors students in the Emerging Scholars Program and regularly gives presentations at the College’s Annual Poster Sessions for Faculty & Student Research.
Last fall, Emerging Scholars Program students Tamelia Spence and Barbara Culver both benefited from Kolchenko’s expertise in developing abstracts for their research projects. “We invited speakers, had field trips to “Bodies: The Exhibition” in Lower Manhattan and to the Rockefeller University biology symposium,” he says, then adds, “We also organized music and poetry performances at City Tech.”
Kolchenko, whose songs may be heard at http://www.myspace.com/colchenco, regularly performs on the City Tech campus.
11.06.08
