Jeffrey I. Gordon, M.D. (Director)

DEPARTMENT OF Pathology & Immunology
Keywords: gene analysis, genome analysis, systems biology

The Center is dedicated to studying the evolution of life on our planet by pursuing research in systems biology, an emerging field that examines the origins, structures and functions of the complex genetic and molecular networks that regulate normal cellular functions.

Faculty and students in the center and others in the broader university use this information to gain new understanding about how network disruption leads to diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, plus various immune or infectious maladies. This work requires the assembly of multidisciplinary teams composed of geneticists, genome scientists, evolutionary and population biologists, developmental and cell biologists, microbiologists, immunologists, engineers, computer scientists, (bio)chemists, physicists and mathematicians.

The center is functioning as a proving ground for developing strategies to effectively assemble, mentor and reward members of teams that work at the interface of many disciplines. Center members also hope to spur development of high-end computing resources and new software tools, as well as a core curriculum in systems biology that will be distributed to medical school and Hilltop graduate programs.