Small Grant for Visiting Researcher Professor Marek Kimmel, Rice University

系统生物学（SB）试图理解生物系统作为一个整体的运作，将更多的重点放在组件之间的相互作用，以及这种相互作用的后果，而不是分子组件本身。因此，数学建模和统计分析是关键的理论工具。这样的工作被认为对更好地理解诸如疾病机制、药物发现、药物靶点验证以及园艺和农业等广泛的生物学和医学优先事项非常重要。Kimmel博士是该研究的三个核心领域的国际领先专家：分支过程（特别是细胞生物学和遗传学的理论和应用）；遗传学和基因组学的统计方面；以及细胞信号系统的数学建模。这笔资金将用于资助对华威大学进行为期四个半月的访问，以相互加强这些领域的研究，并鼓励Kimmel博士小组的研究人员与华威大学和其他对系统生物学或数学/统计技能感兴趣的研究人员之间的新合作。

Systems Biology (SB) seeks to understand the workings of biological systems as a whole, placing a greater emphasis on the interactions between components, and the consequences of such interactions, than on the molecular components themselves. As such mathematical modelling and statistical analysis are key theoretical tools. Such work is considered to be of great importance to a better understanding of an enormously broad range of biological and medical priorities such as disease mechanisms, pharmaceutical drug discovery, drug target validation, and horticulture and agriculture. Dr Kimmel is an internationally leading expert in three areas which are central to this research: branching processes (particularly theory and applications in cell biology and genetics); statistical aspects of genetics and genomics; and mathematical modelling of cellular signaling systems. This grant is to fund a visit of four and a half months to the University of Warwick to mutually strengthen research in these areas and to encourage new collaborations between researchers at Dr Kimmel's group, and researchers at Warwick and elsewhere with interests in Systems Biology or the mathematical/statistical skills to contribute to it.