A Short Course in Cancer Systems Biology

项目总结： 这项提议寻求建立一个癌症系统生物学的年度短期课程。系统生物学 利用数学、物理、工程和计算机科学的思想和方法来解决 关于复杂生物系统的组织、设计和性能的基本问题， 通过传统的分子和细胞方法不容易解决的问题。这样的问题是 尤其与癌症生物学有关，在癌症生物学中，多个级别的控制系统的扰动导致 导致疾病的动态平衡的异常行为和级联故障。高等职业技术教育的发展 吞吐量数据生成技术及其在癌症中的应用导致了焦点从 癌细胞的单个成分(例如，基因)到大规模的、非线性相互作用的网络，包括 癌细胞与自身及其微环境之间的信号和通讯。这有 自然地将系统生物学方法引入到癌症生物学中，并取得了进展 在我们对癌症的发生、发展和治疗反应的基本理解中。然而，普遍存在 由于缺乏培训，系统与癌症生物学的整合受到阻碍。生物学家和临床医生通常 在应用系统所需的数学、统计和计算工具方面没有接受足够的培训 生物学方法论。另一方面，物理学家、数学家和其他来自非生物医学领域的人 谁拥有系统生物学所需的理论和计算知识基础，通常缺乏 要将这些方法应用于癌症，需要进行足够的癌症生物学培训。我们课程的目标是 为约20名研究生、博士后和经验丰富的研究人员提供一个多样化的群体 加州大学欧文分校为期三周的项目，旨在弥补个人培训不足 进入癌症系统生物学领域的障碍和提供高水平的系统生物学探索 当前癌症研究中核心问题的一个子集。 拟议的课程首先是为期一周的预备讲习班，内容包括：i)数学和 计算方法，或II)癌症生物学和生物医学基础，然后是两周的核心 同时使用讲课和实验模块让学员接触尖端技术的课程 系统与癌症生物学交叉点的方法学和研究主题。讲座和 实验室模块将由19名加州大学学院(包括学术和临床)教员提供，包括研究和教学 在数学、物理、计算机科学、工程和癌症生物学方面的专业知识。本课程的目标是 包括(1)传达对系统生物学是什么的理解；(2)提供数学基础 和计算基础；(3)培养对数学、统计和 计算模型用于生物学和生物医学；(4)提供应用尖端技术的机会 系统生物学方法针对癌症生物学领域中的具体问题，重点研究 基因组、细胞和微环境水平上的癌细胞异质性和时空动力学； 以及(5)促进参与者和教师之间的跨学科互动。讲座材料(视频 记录)、培训数据集和软件工具将通过在线分发免费提供给 最大限度地扩大范围。课程管理和后勤将由加州大学欧文综合中心负责 生物系统(CCBS)，美国国立卫生研究院13个国家系统生物学中心之一，与 潮家综合癌症中心，NCI指定的综合癌症中心。

Project Summary: This proposal seeks to establish an annual short course in Cancer Systems Biology. Systems Biology harnesses ideas and methodologies from mathematics, physics, engineering and computer science to tackle fundamental questions about the organization, design and performance of complex biological systems, questions not easily addressed through traditional molecular and cellular approaches. Such questions are particularly relevant to Cancer Biology, where perturbations at multiple levels of control systems lead to aberrant behaviors and cascading failures in homeostasis leading to disease. The development of high throughput data generation technologies and their application in cancer has led to a shift in focus from individual components of cancer cells (e.g., genes) to large-scale, nonlinearly interacting networks involving signaling and communication of cancer cells with themselves and with their microenvironment. This has naturally led to the introduction of Systems Biology approaches into Cancer Biology and resulted in advances in our fundamental understanding of cancer initiation, progression and response to treatment. Yet widespread integration of Systems and Cancer Biology is hampered by a lack of training. Biologists and clinicians typically do not receive sufficient training in mathematical, statistical and computational tools needed to apply Systems Biology methodologies. On the other hand, physicists, mathematicians and others from non-biomedical fields who have the theoretical and computational knowledge base needed for Systems Biology, typically lack sufficient training in cancer biology needed to apply these methodologies to cancer. The goal of our course is to provide a diverse group of about 20 graduate students, postdocs, and experienced researchers an intensive three-week program at the University of California, Irvine to bridge individual training deficits that pose an obstacle to entry into the Cancer Systems Biology field and to provide a high-level systems biology exploration of a subset of core issues in current cancer research. The proposed course begins with a one-week Preparatory Workshop in either i) Mathematical and Computational Methods, or ii) Fundamentals of Cancer Biology and Biomedicine, followed by a two-week Core Course in which both lectures and laboratory modules are used to expose participants to cutting-edge methodologies and research topics at the intersection between Systems and Cancer Biology. Lectures and laboratory modules will be given by 19 UCI faculty (both academic and clinical) with research and teaching expertise in mathematics, physics, computer science, engineering and cancer biology. The goals of the course include (1) conveying an understanding of what Systems Biology is; (2) providing a grounding in mathematical and computational fundamentals; (3) fostering a deep understanding of how mathematical, statistical and computational models are used in biology and biomedicine; (4) providing opportunities to apply cutting-edge Systems Biology methods to specific problems in the areas of cancer biology, with an emphasis on the study of cancer cell heterogeneity and spatiotemporal dynamics at the genomic, cellular and microenvironmental levels; and (5) fostering interdisciplinary interactions among participants and teaching faculty. Lecture materials (video recorded), training datasets, and software tools will be made freely available through on-line distribution to maximize outreach. Course administration and logistics will be handled by the UC Irvine Center for Complex Biological Systems (CCBS), one of thirteen NIH National Centers for Systems Biology, in conjunction with the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, a NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center.