About the Symposium

June 11-14, 2009

Systems Biology is an exciting, emerging discipline at the interface of biological and informational sciences. Over the past several decades, biologists have been accumulating detailed knowledge of the building blocks of biological systems e.g., DNA, RNA, genes, proteins, cells, tissues, organs, organisms, and ecologies. Genomics has provided us with an enormous collection of molecular parts. Anatomical, physiological, molecular, cellular, and structural approaches to biology have begun to transform our understanding of how these specific parts of living things function. However, biological systems are more than simply a collection of molecules, cells, or organs. We need to understand how these parts work together to form dynamic functional units so that we can precisely describe, model, and simulate biological systems.

During this Symposium on modeling in Systems Biology, some of the worlds leading experimental and computational scientists and engineers working in microbial, plant, animal, and human systems will convene on the campus of Iowa State University. As in past years, the Symposium will be set in a venue designed to promote informal discussion and interaction, potentiating collaborations. It will provide the opportunity for students and younger researchers to gain a working knowledge of the current state of the field and the researchers who are expanding it.

Topics

The Symposium will begin with a session on a vision of Systems Biology; past, present, future. The bulk of the Symposium will then cover the Modeling of biological processes at molecular, cellular and organismal levels, and at multiple scales of investigation. The meeting will emphasize both current applications of available modeling tools as well as pioneering research in fundamental aspects of biological modeling.

Date and Symposium Structure

The Symposium will cover four dates (Thursday June 11- Sunday June 14, 2009) and 18 speakers who are world leaders in their respective fields are expected to provide 40 minute talks. In addition, 6 additional speakers selected from submitted abstracts will give 15 minute talks. A poster session will be held to provide an opportunity for students to present their ongoing research.

History of Symposium Series

This symposium will be one of an ongoing series of symposia sponsored by the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology at ISU. The ISU Symposia attract a worldwide audience, with a broad mix of principal investigators, postdocs, and graduate students. The atmosphere is informal and the format allows for extensive discussion both during and between sessions. An important purpose of these symposia is to promote interactions and new collaborations between individuals who might not normally come together at a single symposium.

A unique aspect of this conference is that the conference will be part of the cross-disciplinary training of students in the ISU NSF IGERT training grant in Computational Biology. These IGERT students will have access to the wide variety of world-class speakers at this Symposium, as well as other scientists attending. The students will have an opportunity to present their research in a poster session, as well as compete for the opportunity to present a short talk at one of the sessions, and also interact with speakers through assisting with transportation, etc. for the Symposium. Overall, the Symposium will be an excellent Professional Development opportunity for these students.

 

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