Systems Biology Center New York

Principal investigator: Ravi Iyengar, Ph.D., Mount Sinai School of Medicine

We want to understand how the effects of molecular interactions are propagated across scales of organization from cells to tissues and organs affecting physiology and pathophysiology. We posit that the dynamic organization of motifs (regulatory loops) within multi-scale networks provides the basis for propagation of effects across scales from molecules to cells to tissues. We study drug action at a genomic scale to understand and predict adverse events. Drugs have their effects by reorganizing network topology across these scales. We study selected processes in the heart and brain to test these hypotheses.

We are developing and seamlessly integrating multiple modeling approaches including graph theory analysis, differential equation-based modeling and the new method of stochastic reaction-diffusion to model processes in 3D. Such theoretical integration allows us to construct and analyze multi-scale models. We are developing parallelized programs that run on supercomputers such as IBM Blue-Gene/L both for dynamic motif searches in large networks and for simulations of differential equation-based models. The theoretical studies are well integrated with multivariable experiments to profile activity changes by reverse protein arrays, transcription factor arrays and microarrays. The multivariable experiments in turn are combined with quantitative measurements of molecular interactions and tissue level physiological measurements to constrain models and test model predictions.

The research activities of the Systems Biology Center New York form a continuum with our educational and outreach activities that include graduate and postdoctoral training, summer programs for undergraduates with a focus on recruiting underrepresented minorities, training undergraduate educators, personalized workshops and opportunities to participate in the SBCNY research projects for all researchers. Together these research, education and outreach activities will allow SBCNY to make significant contributions towards the development of Systems Medicine and Therapeutics.

Education and Outreach

Systems Biology Center New York Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Each summer the Systems Biology Center New York Summer Undergraduate Research Program offers 4 to 6 research fellowships to students from the undergraduate colleges of The City University of New York (CUNY) entering their junior or senior years to conduct Systems Biology research in the laboratories of members of the Center. We have high interest in students who have plans to pursue PhD or MD/PhD degree programs after completion of their undergraduate studies. The program aims to attract students who major in computer science, engineering, mathematics and the biological sciences and express interest in learning computational techniques and how to quantitatively model biological processes. The Center provides the students with a stipend during the 10 full-time consecutive weeks. During this research period, students conduct individual research projects under the mentorship of a SBCNY Investigator in the areas of computation and systems biology.