Question: What is user interface design?

Answer: When a web page or mobile app is easy to use, you don't notice how you use it, you just use it. When it's not easy to use, you might not use it at all. Good user interface design ensures people will use your product.

Question: What is data visualization?

Answer: A graph or graphic that effectively conveys information is extremely powerful. But done poorly, data visualization can mislead or confuse. Effective data visualization allows you and your customers to get value from your data.

Question: What is bioinformatics?

Answer: People mean many things by this term. When I use that term I mean applying good math, statistics and computer science techniques to understanding biological information.

Question: What is data modelling & standardization?

Answer: For data to be useful, it must be understandable. Data modelling and standardization turn data into something that is easier for people and computers to understand. When an organization has a lot of data, this is the only way to make any use of it.

Question: What is software requirements documentation?

Answer: Software requirements define what a software product does. To properly test a piece of software one must execute tests that compare the behavior of the software to the requirements. So you can't really test software at all without requirements. Good requirements are especially critical if you're developing software that is part of a diagnostic product.

Question: What does Interzone Biosoft mean?

Answer: I'm a fan of sci-fi and speculative fiction. Interzone was coined by William S. Burroughs to describe the international zone of Tangier in Morocco, a setting for many of his fictional and non-fictional pieces. Biosoft is a term used by William Gibson to describe a combination of biological memories and digital data storage. Putting them together just sounded cool.

Question: How did you get into this field?

Answer: My training was in mathematics and computer science and my first jobs out of school were computer programming positions, which I didn't particularly enjoy. So I complained about it a lot. My girlfriend (now wife) got fed up with my complaining and looked at the classified ads in the Washington Post and found one that said something about developing software to support DNA sequencing. That was at the Institute for Genomic Research in 1993 and I've been in the field ever since.

Question: Is it true that you are the first person to work for both Craig Venter and Eric Lander?

Answer: As far as I know. I worked at The Institute for Genomic research from 1993-1995 and at the Whitehead Institute from 1995-2002.

Question: Are you going to write a book?

Answer: There are already a lot of good books about the Human Genome Project so not sure how much I could add. But I am working on a memoir that will include my part of the story.