Workshop on Future Directions in Network Biology

University Of Notre Dame, Notre Dame IN

Investigators

Abstract

Network biology, a field in the intersection of computer science and biology, is critical for deepening understanding of cellular functioning and disease. While the field is relatively young, there have already been rapid changes to it and new computational/algorithmic challenges have arisen, owing to many factors, including increasing data complexity. So, research directions in the field need to evolve accordingly. This project is about a workshop on identifying pressing challenges in this field and proposing solutions to the challenges. Thus, the workshop will help shape the short- and long-term vision for algorithmic research in network biology. As such, it is expected to benefit global scientific competitiveness of the US. The workshop results (e.g., video recordings and a paper about the workshop discussions) will be disseminated broadly via public repositories. The workshop aims to balance well the representation of women and other minorities among its participants. The workshop is to be held in 2020 as a targeted meeting of approximately 35 researchers who are doing active and state-of-the-art research in various aspects of network biology. The workshop participants are to present and discuss their views of important current and future research directions in the field of network biology. A goal is to understand how the field of computer science and algorithms in particular is benefiting the field of network biology, and vice versa, and how to strengthen this synergy even further. This workshop award is cofunded by the Computational Biology Program in the Division of Computing and Communication Foundations and the Systems and Synthetic Biology Program in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences. 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.