 Hi, I'm Joshua Welch. I'm a professor at the University of Michigan. My current research focus is developing computational approaches for analysis of single cell omics data, particularly focused on cells from the brain, and trying to understand how different types of cells align across different modalities and change over time during development. My research group develops and uses several different classes of approaches for analyzing single cell data. In particular, we focus on integration of data sets using a tool called LIGAR that uses matrix factorization, and also we've developed a number of approaches for trajectory and velocity inferences for cells that are changing during differentiation. The thing that I'm most excited about right now in terms of analysis of single cell omics data is using the joint measurement of gene expression and other molecular layers from the same cell in order to tease apart how each of those layers regulates each other during differentiation. I think single cell omics has huge potential for impact in neurobiology, and I think several aspects are particularly relevant. One is understanding the causal regulators of neuron cell identity so that we can make better organoid models and also understand how cells go wrong in disease. Another area of exciting study is probing how molecular mechanisms underlie the function of the brain and ultimately designing interventions that can modify molecular states where things have gone wrong in disease.