RCN: Buildig an Organismal Systems-type Modeling Network - OSyM

Suny At Stony Brook, Stony Brook NY

Investigators

Abstract

A central mystery in biology is how animals maintain the myriad of complex functions of life, while responding to changing environments. This includes how animals maintain function of all of their component systems (for example the nervous system, muscle and skeletal systems, and others) through development. This also includes how animals respond to their environments throughout their lifetimes and across evolutionary time. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie these responses is a major challenge in biology. This information is not only needed for a basic understanding of biological systems, but also because our ability to predict the features that make animals resilient or inflexible to changing environments is poorly developed. Predicting how animals will respond to environmental change is critical. Around the world this change is impacting many animal species, including those that humans depend on for dietary protein, crop pollination, and ecosystem services. The unprecedented pressures from expanding human populations, habitat destruction and fragmentation, ocean acidification, and environmental change are rapidly changing the environment in which animal species live and understanding and predicting how animals will respond is critical. This project will bring together biologists, engineers, and mathematicians to answer these questions. In addition, this project will provide opportunities for scientists, especially those typically underrepresented in these fields, to attend workshops and participate in research exchange programs. Animals are complex systems of interconnected elements (modules) operating at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Discovering systems-level attributes that make animals resilient or sensitive to change presents a grand challenge for biology. Knowledge of these attributes and the underlying mechanisms controlling them are necessary for predicting how animals will respond to short- and long-term changes in internal and external environments. However, traditional approaches in biology are inadequate for the task. Significant advances can be made by incorporating tools from other disciplines, particularly applied mathematics, engineering, and modelling, but, mechanisms are needed for cross-training and facilitating collaborations at all professional levels among these diverse fields. The creation of the Organismal Systems-type Modeling (OSyM) Network will: 1) Provide mechanisms to build and broaden the community of organismal biologists, mathematicians, modellers, computer scientists, and engineers using integrative, systems-level approaches to investigate stability and change in organismal animal systems and 2) Facilitate development of effective collaborations and the exchange of approaches, skills, and ideas among this community. OSyM will advance discovery and understanding while promoting training and learning through research exchanges and workshops for researchers at all levels, especially those from groups underrepresented in STEM fields. Developing a quantitative understanding of the complex functions and interactions of many aspects of organismal biology requires development of new mathematical and engineering tools. By having engineers, mathematicians, modellers, and biologists working together to solve complex problems, advances will be made in each of these fields, likely leading to development of new bio-inspired devices, materials, and applications. This award was co-funded by the Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics and the Integrative Ecological Physiology Programs within the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.