Dr Bulu's Bio Page

Dr. Bulukani Mlalazi (drbulu) is a research scientist (molecular biologist) and data science enthusiast with a passion for applying data science techniques to important problems so that insights from data can drive wise and effective decisions. Outputs of this project includes a poster presentation at an international conference in 2017.

Presently, drbulu is a Research Associate at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS). The current project aims to incorporate statistical models developed at ACEMS into a data visualisation app.

Previously, drbulu was a Research Scientist at the Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities (CTCB) at (QUT) as part of a team conducting research into banana biofortification, with pro-vitamin A and iron, in collaboration with colleagues at the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO).

In 2010 drbulu completed his PhD in molecular biology at QUT, under the supervision of Distinguished Professor James Dale in research to define the role of the phytoene synthase (PSY) genes in the accumulation of pro-vitamin A carotenoids in bananas. His thesis contributed to an increased understanding of the role of this important gene family in regulating carotenoid production. Importantly, this research experience was the genesis of drbulu's passion for data science and its effective application.

Presentations

Publications

Paul J, Khanna HK, Kleidon J, Hoang PM, Geijskes JJ, Daniells JW, Zaplin E, Rosenberg Y, James A, Mlalazi B., Deo PC, Arinaitwe G, Namanya P, Becker DK, Tindamanyire J, Tushemereirwe WK, Harding R, Dale J, (2016) Golden bananas in the field: elevated fruit pro-vitamin A from the expression of a single banana transgene., Plant Biotechnology Journal, Online (Online), p1-41

Buah, S., Mlalazi, B., Khanna, H., Dale, J.L. and Mortimer, C.L. (2016). The quest for golden bananas: Investigating carotenoid regulation in a Fe’i group Musa cultivar. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 64(16): 3176-3185.

Mlalazi, B., Welsch, R., Namanya, P., Khanna, H., Geisjkes, R.J., Harrison, M.D., Harding, R.M., Dale, J.L. and Bateson, M. (2012). Isolation and functional characterisation of banana phytoene synthase genes as potential cisgenes. Planta 236: 1585-1598.

PhD Thesis

Mlalazi, Bulukani (2010) Defining the role of phytoene synthase in carotenoid accumulation of high provitamin A bananas. PhD thesis, Queensland University of Technology.

Conference Papers and Posters

Bulukani Mlalazi, Anthony Ebert, Paul Wu, Kerrie Mengersen (2017) Modular Shiny apps for reproducible data communication. Bayes on the Beach 2017, Gold Coast, Australia, 13-15 November 2017. Poster presentation link.

James Dale, Harjeet Khanna, Wilberforce Tushemereirwe, Jean-Yves Paul, Priver Namanya, Jen Kleidon, Bulu Mlalazi, Cara Mortimer, Geofrey Arinaitwe, Robert Harding (2014) Biofortified Bananas: Tackling Vitamin A Deficiency in East Africa. The 29th International Horticultural Congress, Sustaining Lives, Livelihoods and Landscapes, Brisbane, Australia, 17-22 August 2014

Stephen Buah, Cara Mortimer, Bulukani Mlalazi, Harjeet Khanna, James Dale (2014) Regulation of Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Banana. The 29th International Horticultural Congress, Sustaining Lives, Livelihoods and Landscapes, Brisbane, Australia, 17-22 August 2014

James Dale, Robert Harding, Wilberforce Tushemeirwe, Jean-Yves Paul, Priver Namanya · Jen Kleidon, Bulu Mlalazi, Don Catchpoole, Geofrey Arinaitwe, Harjeet Khanna (2013) Use of Transgene Expression to Elevate Micronutrients in Banana, International Plant and Animal Genome Conference Asia 2013

James Dale, Rob Harding, Doug Becker, J-Y Paul, Bulukani Mlalazi, Pradeep Deo, Jen Kleidon, Phuong Hoang, Don Catchpoole, Jeff Daniels, Geofrey Arinaitwe, Wilberforce Tushemereirwe, Harjeet Khanna (2011) Bananas modified for elevated levels of provitamin A. Paper presented at Plant-based Vaccines and Antibodies Conference, Porto, 8-10 June 2011

Harjeet Khanna, Rob Harding, Doug Becker, J-Y Paul, Don Catchpoole, Bulukani Mlalazi, Pradeep Deo, Jen Kleidon, Phuong Hoang, Jeff Daniels, Geofrey Arinaitwe, Wilberforce Tushemereirwe, James Dale (2011) Metabolic engineering for provitamin A biofortified bananas: a sustainable strategy to combat vitamin A deficiency. Paper presented at Gordon Conference on Plant Metabolic Engineering Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, USA 24-29 July 2011

B Mlalazi, RJ Geijskes, D Becker, HK Khanna, MD Harrison, JL Dale and M Bateson(2008) Defining the molecular basis for increased carotenoid levels in high pro-vitamin A bananas.Banana and plantain in Africa: Harnessinginternational partnerships to increase research impact. Leisure Lodge Resort Mombasa, Kenya 5–9 October 2008

Geijskes RJ, Mlalazi B, Khanna HK, Bateson M. and Dale JL (2006) Promoters for the expression of vitamin synthesis genes in transgenic banana fruit, Tropical Crop Biotechnology Conference, Cairns, Australia.16-19 August 2006

Programming Projects

  1. stats tutorial: Web application developed using the Shiny web applicaiton framework for R.

  2. Machine learning page. A growing work in progress that enables me to apply my skills in machine learning as they grow.

Continual Skills Development

My interest in data science and data analysis is driven by a desire to extract the maximum meaning and useful information from the data that I create and use. This, I believe, is how we can take advantage of the meaning behind the data to provide transformative solutions to challenging and important problems.

Naturally, this interest has kindled a love of programming, which is the engine of modern data analysis. Presently, I am comfortable with the R and Java programming languages. I am also familar with web programming (HTML, CSS and Javascript), SQL, Ruby and Python languages, while C++ is a language that I would like to learn.

My main aim is to improve my programming skills in relation to data analysis. Android programming is another area of interest as I enjoy the process of mobile device development.

One of the avenues through which I have sharpened my programming skills is through the [Coursera](https://www.coursera.org/) platform. The courses that I have completed thus far are summarised below:

Data Science Specialisation (Coursera)

by Johns Hopkins University on Coursera

Courses completed to date:

  1. The Data Scientist’s Toolbox
  2. R Programming: Completed the alternative course Computing for data analysis
  3. Getting and Cleaning Data
  4. Exploratory Data Analysis
  5. Reproducible Research
  6. Statistical Inference
  7. Regression Models
  8. Practical Machine Learning
  9. Developing Data Products

Mobile Cloud Computing with Android Specialisation (Coursera)

by University of Maryland (College Park) and Vanderbilt University on Coursera

Courses completed to date:

  1. Programming Mobile Applications for Android Handheld Systems: Part 1
  2. Programming Mobile Applications for Android Handheld Systems: Part 2
  3. Programming Mobile Services for Android Handheld Systems: Concurrency
  4. Programming Mobile Services for Android Handheld Systems: Communication
  5. Programming Cloud Services for Android Handheld Systems: Spring
  6. Programming Cloud Services for Android Handheld Systems: Security