2013 CSHL Computational Cell Biology Conference

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spg Hbr NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the biennial conference on Computational Cell Biology: The Interplay between Models and Data, which takes place March 19-22, 2013, at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). This meeting brings together a diverse group of scientists who study the molecular, structural, and functional aspects of cellular processes by using computer simulations and mathematical models. The interdisciplinary field computational cell biology is focused on the simulation of molecular machinery that drives the physiological behavior of living cells. To build useful quantitative models of these processes, computational scientists must work closely with experimental cell biologists; in this partnership, experimentalists collect data about cellular processes and how they change over time, while mathematicians use the information to build and improve upon computer models that accurately reflect the biology. The CSHL conference advances knowledge in cell biology by providing a forum where scientists who study all aspects of dynamic cellular processes, from data generation and analysis to the development and validation of quantitative models, can interact with each other and exchange ideas, information, and approaches. The conference includes sessions on signal processing, noise, cell mechanics, development, synthetic biology, imaging, evolution, and organizing principles of biological systems. The 2013 meeting builds on the successes of prior CSHL meetings to assemble an international gathering of scientists, discuss new developments in the field, and catalyze innovative research collaborations. The discipline of computational cell biology seeks to develop mathematical models of living systems, such as molecular interactions during cell division in both healthy cells and cancer. The goals for such models are twofold: 1) predict outcomes from dynamical systems in the cell, thereby allowing scientists to 2) explain how cellular processes go awry in disease. To build successful models, mathematicians and computer scientists must work closely with experimental cell biologists. In this partnership, experimentalists collect quantitative information about cellular processes and how they change over time, while mathematicians use the information to build and improve upon computer models that accurately reflect the biology. The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory conference on Computational Cell Biology: The Interplay between Models and Data advances knowledge in the field by bringing together scientists with expertise in both experimental and computational techniques, thus catalyzing scientific interactions that will ultimately accelerate the pace of discovery.