A living system, like any complex entity, is more than the sum of its parts. It can be as simple as a virus or as complex as an ecosystem. Researchers at WID aspire to gain an understanding of how such systems function, as well as how they adapt to and shape their environments over different time scales.
An interdisciplinary group of engineers, computer scientists, physicists, and evolutionary biologists take a multi-pronged approach to understanding living systems. We develop and combine experimental and computational methods to study diverse problems, ranging from interactions between organisms (e.g., between hosts and pathogens, and within diverse microbial communities) and interaction networks within organisms (e.g., regulatory and metabolic interactions). A common theme to complex biological systems research at WID is to view these systems through the lens of evolution.
An interdisciplinary pair of WID researchers has developed a new nanocapsule delivery method for delivering the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool. The new system could be used for many types of gene therapies.
Claudia Solís-Lemus and Daniel Pimentel-Alarcón are experts in statistics and machine learning, augmenting WID’s data science expertise.
WID graduate student Arezoo Movaghar was a collaborator in a study that employed machine learning to mine decades of electronic health records of nearly 20,000 individuals.
Assistant Professor
My research involves the development of statistical models to answer biological questions.
Exploring multitask learning algorithms for single cell network inference
WID researchers used a collaborative combination of computational and wet lab experimental techniques to find a connection between a transcription factor and a neurodevelopment gene.
Associate Professor
Neurodevelopmental mechanisms of stress and mental illness in youth
Genetic basis for Polyethylene degradation in Galleria mellonella gut flora
WID Director Jo Handelsman and biochemistry professor Ophelia Venturelli are part of a multi-university interdisciplinary team awarded a grant to study information transmission in microbial communities and how biological networks communicate.
A new group centered at WID hopes to coordinate the dozens of labs that are addressing some aspect of astrobiology and inspire others to join the work. A public lecture series this spring is part of the effort.
A growing understanding of microbial communities and their influence on human health or crop productivity has led to the dream of changing these communities to produce benefits. New research at WID addresses this head-on.
Developing Stem Cell-Derived Dorsal Horn Interneurons for Regeneration of Somatosensory Circuits
A proteomics approach to gut microbial interactions that drive epigenetic changes in human metabolism
Dorsal horn interneuron generation from ESC and spinal integration of regionalized transplants.
WID seeks to add to its roster of excellent faculty with two new hires in emerging cutting-edge fields.
WID’s new hubs—Data Science, Multi-Omics, and Illuminating Discovery—represent a new path forward for collaborative research projects and fields.
Developing computational tools to learn the principles of genome organization
