REU Site: Modeling and Simulation in Systems Biology

该计划的目标是为来自美国和波多黎各的本科生提供为期10周的夏季数学生物学住宿研究经验，目的是增加他们进入数学或计算生物学博士课程的愿望和准备。这些学生将由弗吉尼亚生物信息学研究所（VBI）和维克森林大学医学院（位于北卡罗来纳州温斯顿-塞勒姆）的教师指导。他们将参与两个相关领域的研究项目：两种细胞类型的哺乳动物细胞内铁代谢建模，以及连接细胞内和系统尺度的多尺度模型；以及构建和实现用于分析生物网络的数学算法。这些算法将用于研究铁代谢模型。人们普遍认为，数学工具对于理解生物网络及其动态特性是不可或缺的。该计划要求学生参与用数学工具模拟生物网络的研究项目。学生将开发并应用这些工具。这些项目是在实验科学家的密切合作下进行的。该项目将培养36名本科生，迎接现代跨学科定量生命科学研究的挑战。这将激励他们进入博士课程，并将帮助他们在毕业后的职业生涯中取得成功。在征聘时将特别强调包括代表人数不足的群体的成员。因此，该计划将有助于在实验和计算界面招聘和培训高度专业化的劳动力，以满足对可以将定量方法应用于生命科学和生物医学研究的专家日益增长的需求。

The objective of the proposed program is to provide a 10-week residential summer research experience in mathematical biology to undergraduate students from around the U.S. and Puerto Rico, with the goal of increasing their desire and preparation to enter a Ph.D. program in mathematics or computational biology. The students will be mentored by faculty from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) and the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC. They will participate in research projects in two related areas: Modeling of mammalian intracellular iron metabolism in two cell types, as well as a multiscale model connecting the intracellular and the systemic scales; and construction and implementation of mathematical algorithms for the analysis of biological networks. These algorithms will be used to study models of iron metabolism. It is widely recognized that mathematical tools are indispensable for the understanding of biological networks and their dynamic properties. The proposed program involves students in research projects that model biological networks with mathematical tools. The students will develop the tools as well as apply them. The projects are carried out in close collaboration with experimental scientists. The program will prepare a total of 36 undergraduates for the challenges of modern interdisciplinary quantitative life sciences research. It will motivate them to enter a Ph.D. program and will help them be successful in their graduate career. Particular emphasis in recruiting will be placed on the inclusion of members from underrepresented groups. Thus, the program will contribute to the recruitment and training of a highly specialized workforce at the interface of experiment and computation, responding to the ever-growing need for experts that can apply quantitative methods to life science and biomedical research.