Collaboration and Service

University Of Connecticut Sch Of Med/Dnt, Farmington CT

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

Collaboration and Service Project Summary The primary technology of the National Resource for Cell Analysis and Modeling, the VCell modeling and simulation tool, is freely available for use as an internet resource. Thousands of individuals use the software each year, creating models and simulation results that are computed on NRCAM servers and stored within the VCell Database (VCDB). Our collaborations largely arise from dissemination and training efforts as users develop more sophisticated and complex models and seek a range of interaction and help from the VCell team; these collaborations result in published VCell models of a range of biological mechanisms. User statistics show that VCell usage continues to increase unabated, and that users avail themselves of all the different types of modeling applications available within the software. The VCDB contains a growing number of publically available models and simulations available to the entire research community. New technologies proposed in TR&D3 promises to greatly expand VCDB as a modeling resource well beyond the VCell userbase, providing well-annotated model components (?ModelBricks?) that can be easily ported to any model to enable the creation of well-annotated models from component parts. Additional service provided by the resource includes the strong effort of the VCell Team in the development of community standards for modeling in computational cell biology, and the use of VCell as the software of choice in a growing number of graduate and undergraduate courses that teach modeling methods in biology and biomedical engineering.