Gary's Professional Interests

After  nine years as the Director of Bioinformatics at the Rochester Institute of Technology and two years as the Interim Head of the School of Biological and Medical Sciences, Gary is now the Associate Head of that school. In his former role as the Director of Bioinformatics he was responsible for developing and implementing BS and MS degree granting programs in Bioinformatics. He also established partnerships with biotechnology and bioinformatics companies which provide opportunities for his students to gain "real world" experience in addition to their academic pursuits. Now he continues to provide advocacy and leadership for faculty and staff who together support six academic programs.

For more than a dozen years Gary's research interests were focused  on studying the genetics of neurofibromatosis type I or NF1. This disease has  been traditionally known as elephant man's disease however recent work has  suggested that Joseph Merrick, the elephant man, actually had a different disease but since the name recognition works to our advantage we have kept it. NF1 is a remarkably common disease with diverse clinical features. If you have the time just ask Gary about his work and he will be glad to tell you more than you probably want to know.  You can learn more about his research activities by  clicking here: Gary's Research Laboratory.

Gary has taught more than fifty courses, both traditional and online,  at Monroe Community College, the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Empire State College and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. In addition he has participated in  Science Exploration Day at St. John Fisher College and played a pivotal role in founding Science Action at Dudley and Northside schools in Fairport.  Unlike  research, teaching is an endeavor by  which gratification is achieved in an  instantaneous and ongoing manner.

Currently Gary provides consulting services to the federal government, publishers, biopharmaceutical companies and defense attorneys  working with DNA evidence.  He also provides wireless voice and data communications support for Airsupport, LLC.  You can view his curriculum vitae here.

Gary's Hobbies

Gary's hobbies range from computers and  amateur radio (unseparable as far as he can tell) to handguns. He holds an Amateur Extra license and spends way too much time building and rebuilding his radio shack at home.  Unfortunately there is never enough time to use it.

There is an IRLP node at his home and he is in the process of setting up a repeater for the DCAP radio club. The computer network in the shack and throughout the house is switched 1000Mbps Ethernet, with wired and wireless segments.   Among the computers in the house there are several boxes running Windows XP,  Solaris, OSX and Linux. 

Gary is a former Chairman of the Rochester Amateur Packet Society (a local packet club) and is a founding member of the Digital Communication Association of Perinton (DCAP, a more local packet club). Due to his interests in digital communications he is a de facto subscriber to wa2zkd's motto that "data should be seen and not heard".

He has an active APRS station in his car so you can always find his approximate location here.

Gary’s interests are broad and lead him to frequently visit a number of websites you may be interested in. Please check them out here.