Mathematical Biology seminar Boyi Guo University of Utah "Mapping Gene Expression in Space: The Computational Challenges and Opportunities In Spatial Transcriptomics" Tuesday, April 21, 2026 1-2pm in LCB 215 Abstract: Recent advances in spatially resolved transcriptomics (SRT) and multi-omics technologies have revolutionized our ability to investigate cellular behavior within its native microenvironment. These innovations offer unprecedented opportunities to understand how the dysregulation of cell populations contributes to human diseases. In one of our recent work, we created a population-level spatial multi-omics atlas of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the human brain, and investigated the molecular underpinning of schizophrenia through an integrative approach. In this talk, I will introduce the computational pipeline we developed to process, integrate and analyze population-scale SRT data. Specifically, I will highlight SpotSweeper, a quality control framework for identifying experimentally compromised data observations, including histological artifacts. To conclude, I will highlight exciting opportunities to develop computational algorithms for the atlas-scale SRT data consisting of multiple cohorts and to integrate spatial omics of multiple molecular modalities, paving the way for deeper insights into complex biological systems.