Tom Oldfield
About Tom Oldfield
Tom Oldfield is a Principal Software Architect at Dotmatics, where he has worked since 2015. He has extensive experience in bioinformatics, having previously held positions at GlaxoSmithKline, EBI, and Accelrys, and has contributed to significant advancements in data analysis and visualization techniques.
Work at Dotmatics
Tom Oldfield has been employed at Dotmatics as a Principal Software Architect since 2015. In this role, he has designed and developed infrastructure for biologics and analytics, contributing to the company's capabilities in handling large biological datasets. He has integrated graphical tools for data visualization, allowing for the management of millions of data rows with zero order graphics. Additionally, he has worked on developing a data hypercube for structured and linked data, enhancing the analytical capabilities of the organization.
Previous Experience at GlaxoSmithKline
Before joining Dotmatics, Tom Oldfield worked at GlaxoSmithKline as a Postdoctoral Researcher from 1990 to 1993. During his three years in this position, he focused on various research initiatives that contributed to the understanding of biological processes. This experience laid the foundation for his future work in software architecture and data analysis within the life sciences sector.
Career at EBI
Tom Oldfield served as the Head of Databases and Services for the Protein Databank in Europe at the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) from 2002 to 2014. Over his twelve-year tenure, he was responsible for overseeing database management and service development, which included implementing clustering techniques for analyzing large sets of biological sequences. His leadership in this role contributed to advancements in bioinformatics and data accessibility.
Education and Expertise
Tom Oldfield earned his DPhil in Macromolecular Crystallography and Simulation from York University in York, UK, where he studied from 1986 to 1990. His academic background provided him with a strong foundation in computational methods and biological data analysis. His expertise includes utilizing Bayes classifiers, MPA, B-SAR, and PCA for mutation analysis, as well as developing a sequence alignment algorithm that is significantly faster than BLAST.
Experience at Accelrys
Prior to his role at EBI, Tom Oldfield worked at Accelrys as a Principal Scientist from 1993 to 2002. In this capacity, he focused on various scientific and technical projects, including the implementation of clustering techniques for analyzing large biological datasets. His work during this period contributed to the development of tools and methodologies that are essential in the field of bioinformatics.