The list of candidates for director of the Laurence H. Baker Center for Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics has been trimmed to four.

ISU professors Hal Stern, professor of statistics and interim director of the Baker Center, and Volker Brendel, associate professor of zoology and genetics, are among the potential directors.

The other two candidates are Naomi Altman, associate professor of biometrics at Cornell University, and Robert Jernigan, chief of the section on molecular structure at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Md.

Stern has held many positions in the statistics department since coming to Iowa State in 1994.

Brendel has been at Iowa State since 1998 in the department of zoology and genetics and also joined the statistics department in 2000.

The Baker Center for Bioinformatics and Biological Statistics seeks to develop advanced methods in the areas of computation and statistics to be used in collecting, analyzing and interpreting biological data, Stern said.

The center is sponsored by the Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State, he said. “The duties of the director is basically two-fold,” he said. “The goal is not just in the area of administration but to also be involved.”

Brendel said he has been interested in this field since he was a graduate student.

“The center is a very exciting opportunity for Iowa State, and I would like to play a role in the development of it,” he said.

Technology and methods in the field of bioinformatics are loosely defined because the field is relatively young, Brendel said.

“I feel the direction of the center will involve many fields, and that is what is exciting about this opportunity,” he said. “This is really a fantastic opportunity.”

The final four candidates’ interviews are in April, Brendel said. They will involve one presentation which covers their research and another presentation of their administrative vision.

“I think the presentations will be interesting because the candidates all come from such a varied background,” Brendel said. “I would urge students to attend.”