The new center will make it easier for clinicians and researchers to share data
A new research center bringing together scientists from various disciplines aims – through collaboration and computerization – to make progress on new treatments for complicated diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and depression.
The newly launched Center for Computational and Integrative Biology on the Camden Campus combines the expertise of researchers from traditional biomedical disciplines – such as biology, chemistry, psychology, and physics – with the analytic methods employed by mathematicians and computer scientists.
“The new center will make it easier for clinicians and researchers to share data in a cooperative environment that supports integration and analysis of data at all levels,” said Joseph Martin, a professor of biology in Camden and acting director of the new center.
Since the recent completion of the genome projects, Martin said, scientists understand many of the details of how individual biological systems work. The logical next step will be to try to understand how these systems cooperate and interact with one another, an analysis that requires sophisticated computational techniques.
Camden scientists already have research success in this holistic approach. They are developing a mathematical explanation for the benefits of white noise that could lead to major improvements in hearing aid technology, as well as finding new insight in tracking cell-to-cell communication.
Martin predicts that the collaborating scientists will find rapid applications in new treatments for diseases ranging from diabetes to cardiac disorders. Martin’s own research partnership with chemist Alex Roche investigates a potential link between sleep and thyroid hormone effects on the adult brain, with implications for treatments of sleep disorders and depression.
The center will play a significant role in Camden’s planned Integrative Biology and Genomic Medicine Institute, a collective facility established through $50 million in funding from the State of New Jersey for Rutgers–Camden, the Coriell Institute, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, and Cooper University Hospital.
“The research discoveries from the Integrative Biology and Genomic Medicine Institute, as well as the implementation of their practical applications, will provide a rich treasure trove for expanding the biotech community of Camden and southern New Jersey, and will offer a hugely beneficial effect on the region’s economy,” Martin said.
In addition to advancing faculty research, the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology will provide unique opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Rutgers–Camden students can assist faculty members on various joint research projects and attend on-campus lectures by top national scientists, such as a lecture on the complexity in biological systems and implications for biomedicine to be offered by Joseph Loscalzo of Harvard Medical School on November 30.
A major goal of the center is to eventually offer a doctoral degree in integrative and computational biology on the Camden Campus; few programs currently offer training in this interdisciplinary area. “Doctoral students with the new interdisciplinary type of training are in great demand,” Martin said. “A quick examination of the listings of any bioscience placement service shows that pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions are actively competing to recruit these individuals.”