In Brief

Abstract

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) anticipates that it will spend a total $25.5 million over the next five years to create new Centers of Excellence in Complex Biomedical Systems Research. NIGMS aims to encourage computational approaches to model and predict the behavior of complex biological systems, ranging from networks of molecules to whole-body interactions of tissues and organs. 'We anticipate that the new centers will develop creative approaches to address significant biomedical problems by combining the expertise of outstanding scientists working across disciplinary boundaries. We also expect these centers to lead the way in training the next generation of researchers in computational biology.' said Dr. Judith H. Greenberg, acting director of NIGMS. Grants for the creation of two new centers have already been awarded to the Friday Harbor Laboratories at the University of Washington (San Juan Island, WA, USA) and to the Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH, USA). Research at the former institution will investigate how groups of genes control key biological processes such as the development of embryos, and the functional and mechanical organization of cell structure and motion. The Case Western Reserve team aims to model and simulate metabolism in skeletal muscle, brain and liver tissue in response to stresses associated with exercise, diet and oxygen supply. (http://www.nigms.nih.gov/news/releases/complex_centers.html) AR