Cross-disciplinary innovations in organismal biology through mathematical and physical modeling

通过数学和物理建模实现有机生物学的跨学科创新

• 批准号: 2040544
• 负责人: Monica Daley
• 金额: $ 10万
• 依托单位: University of California-Irvine
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-02-01 至 2024-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2040544&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Cross; disciplinary; innovations; organismal; biology

It remains a Grand Challenge in biology to understand the integrated function of living physical systems and the dynamic interactions between organisms and their environments. Understanding the physical function of organisms forms a critical link in the ‘Rules of Life’— essential for integrating across scales from molecules to biospheres. However, a gap exists between ‘top-down’ approaches that focus on whole-organism behavior but lack insight into underlying mechanisms and ‘bottom-up’ approaches that characterize molecular and biophysical mechanisms but lack insight into their contributions to whole-organism behavior. We propose a 2.5-day workshop to bring together diverse scientists at the intersection of organismal biology and physics. A key focus will be integrative perspectives that enable scientists to understand how organisms robustly sense and respond to their environment. The workshop will generate important opportunities for communication and collaboration between distinct scientific fields at the interface of physics and organismal biology. The workshop will emphasize organismal function and biological diversity in an ecological and evolutionary context. A hybrid in-person and virtual format will be used to facilitate inclusive participation of underrepresented groups. The physics of living systems is a highly visual and engaging field of study that can inspire a new generation of scientists. Public online activities (YouTube live streaming, social media posts, web site) will provide opportunities for general audiences to engage with organismal biology as well as accessible resources for education and outreach. Organisms are complex systems of interconnected elements that must achieve coordinated function and environmental responses across spatial and temporal scales. Modeling tools from mathematics, physics and engineering are becoming increasingly important for hypothesis driven research in organismal function and organism-environment interactions. Cross-disciplinary dialogue and collaboration are required to make effective use of these tools. Yet, a disconnect often exists between the use of models in the physical sciences and the effective translation and use of these models in biology. This workshop will bring together scientists at the intersection of organismal biology and physics with shared interests in using model-based approaches to address fundamental questions about organismal structure and function in comparative, ecological and evolutionary contexts. We will bring together scientists from diverse backgrounds to discuss recent innovations, challenges and community needs for transformative advances in organismal biomechanics. The workshop will use a hybrid in-person and virtual format, making use of synchronous and asynchronous online tools to facilitate communication, collaboration and dissemination of outcomes. Activities will include keynote and invited speakers, group discussions and small-group brainstorming sessions. Early career researchers including postdoctoral scientists and advanced graduate students will be recruited to act as discussion facilitators in virtual breakout sessions, providing an opportunity to develop and demonstrate communication skills and make important scientific network connections. Online elements will be used to develop an ongoing international community and collaborative research network, with sharing of open access resources to help facilitate broader public engagement with the physics of living systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

了解生命物理系统的综合功能以及生物体与其环境之间的动态相互作用仍然是生物学的一大挑战。 了解生物体的物理功能构成了“生命规则”中的关键环节——对于从分子到生物圈的跨尺度整合至关重要。 然而，“自上而下”的方法专注于整个生物体行为，但缺乏对潜在机制的洞察，而“自下而上”的方法则描述了分子和生物物理机制，但缺乏对它们对整个生物体行为的贡献的洞察。我们提议举办一个为期 2.5 天的研讨会，将有机生物学和物理学交叉领域的不同科学家聚集在一起。一个关键焦点将是综合视角，使科学家能够了解生物体如何强有力地感知和响应其环境。该研讨会将为物理学和有机生物学交叉领域的不同科学领域之间的交流和合作创造重要的机会。该研讨会将强调生态和进化背景下的有机体功能和生物多样性。将采用面对面和虚拟混合的形式来促进代表性不足群体的包容性参与。生命系统物理学是一个高度直观且引人入胜的研究领域，可以激发新一代科学家的灵感。公共在线活动（YouTube 直播、社交媒体帖子、网站）将为普通观众提供参与有机生物学的机会以及教育和宣传的可用资源。生物体是由相互关联的元素组成的复杂系统，必须在空间和时间尺度上实现协调的功能和环境响应。数学、物理和工程学的建模工具对于有机体功能和有机体与环境相互作用的假设驱动研究变得越来越重要。有效利用这些工具需要跨学科对话和协作。然而，物理科学中模型的使用与生物学中这些模型的有效转化和使用之间经常存在脱节。本次研讨会将汇集有机生物学和物理学交叉领域的科学家，他们对使用基于模型的方法解决比较、生态和进化背景下的有机结构和功能的基本问题有着共同的兴趣。 我们将汇集来自不同背景的科学家，讨论有机生物力学变革性进展的最新创新、挑战和社区需求。该研讨会将采用面对面和虚拟的混合形式，利用同步和异步在线工具来促进沟通、协作和成果传播。活动将包括主题演讲和特邀演讲者、小组讨论和小组头脑风暴会议。 将招募包括博士后科学家和高级研究生在内的早期职业研究人员在虚拟分组会议中担任讨论主持人，为培养和展示沟通技巧以及建立重要的科学网络联系提供机会。在线元素将用于发展持续的国际社区和协作研究网络，并共享开放获取资源，以帮助促进更广泛的公众参与生命系统物理学。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。