---------------------------------------------------- Subject: SMB Digest v08i16 SMB Digest April 22, 2008 Volume 08 Issue 16 ISSN 1086-6566 Editor: Ray Mejía ray(at)smb(dot)org Note: Information about the Society for Mathematical Biology, including an application for membership, may be found in the SMB Home Page, http://www.smb.org/ . Access the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, the official journal of SMB, at http://www.springer.com/11538 . Inquiries about membership or BMB fulfillment should be sent to membership(at)smb(dot)org . Issue's Topics: Travel Funding: SMB Annual Meeting July 30 - August 2, Toronto April COPUS Update Workshop: Modeling Human Metabolism & Body Weight Regulation Summer 2008 Courses: Respiratory and Cardiovascular Systems Modeling Conference: Mathematical Tools for Multi-Scale Biological Processes DIMACS/DyDAn Workshop: Investigation of Disease Clusters: Summer Internship: Computational & Mathematical Modeling, Genentech Postdoc Position: Quantitative Biology, IBM Watson Research Center Postdoctoral Researcher: Infectious Disease Modelling, U Guelph SMBnet Reminders ---------------------------------------------------- From: Richard Bertram Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2008 09:47:30 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Travel Funding: SMB Annual Meeting July 30 - August 2, Toronto Travel funding is available for graduate students, postdocs, and non-tenured junior faculty to attend the annual SMB meeting, as well as other biomathematics meetings. For more information, see the SMB web page http://www.smb.org/meetings/index.shtml . The deadline for applications is May 15, 2008. Richard Bertram Chair, Landahl Travel Grants Committee ---------------------------------------------------- From: Sheri Potter Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:27:04 -0400 Subject: April COPUS Update Highlights from the April Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science Newsletter, the COPUS Clarion http://copusproject.org/resources/COPUS-Clarion-2008-04.pdf 1. COPUS South Florida Meeting Tremendous Success Coalition participants inform structure and function of regional hubs and suggest thematic approach for celebrating the Year of Science 2009. http://www.copusproject.org/yearofscience2009/themed_approach.php 2. COPUS Web site Updates - COPUS Structure and Leadership Page http://www.copusproject.org/leadership.php - Thematic hubs defined http://www.copusproject.org/thematic_hubs.php - Regional Hub toolkit http://www.copusproject.org/resources/hub_toolkit.pdf - Newsroom http://www.copusproject.org/newsroom.php/ - Report from Tampa hub meeting http://www.copusproject.org/resources/Report_on_Tampa_Bay_Regional_Hub_Meeting.pdf - Year of Science thematic approach http://www.copusproject.org/yearofscience2009/themed_approach.php - Suggestions for Year of Science activities http://www.copusproject.org/yearofscience2009/suggestions.php 3. Featured Program Center for Precollegiate Education and Training at UF -- Engaging University Research in the Community Sara Day at the University of Florida highlights the advantages of coordinated university activities to engage the education and public at large in university research. ---------------------------------------------------- From: Kevin Hall Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:14:50 -0400 Subject: Workshop: Modeling Human Metabolism & Body Weight Regulation Online registration, poster submissions, and requests for travel assistance are now available for the workshop: Mathematical Modeling of Human Metabolism & Body Weight Regulation Bethesda MD, September 27-28, 2008 http://www.mitacs.ca/conferences/HMBW/ Overview An important new field is emerging that uses mathematical and computational methods to address key questions about human metabolism and body weight regulation. This two day workshop will feature several of the world's experts in obesity and metabolism research along with leading investigators in the fields of mathematical and computational modeling. The workshop will facilitate communication and collaboration between these researchers and introduce new investigators to this exciting area of study. An authoritative background on the physiology of human metabolism and body weight regulation will be provided and the workshop will introduce important research questions that can benefit from mathematical and computational approaches. Recent progress in modeling human metabolism and body weight regulation will be highlighted and promising new areas of investigation will be identified. Who Should Attend? - Applied Mathematicians, Biophysicists and Computational Biologists - Researchers investigating Human Metabolism, Nutrition, and Body Weight Regulation - Clinicians, Dietitians and other Health Professionals Workshop Goals - Introduce new investigators to the field and facilitate research collaborations - Pose important new research questions - Brief Contributed Presentations will allow attendees to share their research interests and generate discussion - Provide information on Funding Opportunities ---------------------------------------------------- From: Gary Raymond Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:59:19 -0700 Subject: Summer 2008 Courses: Respiratory and Cardiovascular Systems Modeling On behalf of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of NIH, the National Simulation Resource at the University of Washington is giving week-long summer courses on methods of modeling physiological systems. The first will emphasize applications to Respiratory Systems Modeling (June 15-21, 2008) and the second will emphasize Cardiovascular Systems Modeling (August 24-30, 2008). The courses are designed to provide experience and a solid understanding of the power of modeling in experimental data analysis and in experiment design. "Students" will be primarily researchers, clinicians, and post docs wanting guided experience in physiological modeling. While no specific programming experience is required, some precourse preparation is advisable for those without it. We regret that course participation is restricted to U.S. citizens and Green Card holders. Under the direction of an experienced faculty, course participants will learn basic physiological systems-level modeling using the cardiovascular and respiratory systems as their guide. Participants can expect to be able to integrate modeling analysis into their scientific research and clinical applications development. WE ENCOURAGE PARTICIPANTS TO BRING THEIR OWN EXPERIMENTAL DATA SETS TO ANALYZE UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF COURSE INSTRUCTORS. Upon completion of the course, participants will be able to examine data for consistency and interpretability, devise potential explanations for the data, translate ideas into testable hypotheses, express the hypotheses in quantitative terms, constrain model parameters by anatomy, evaluate models to assure correct computation, optimize model parameters to fit solutions to data, determine the relative sensitivities of a model to parameters, analyze the accuracy of the estimated parameters, use models to test ideas and design experiments, and compare and select the best models. General topics covered in both sessions include examining experimental data for mechanistic interpretation in terms of solute and water flows across membranes, convective and diffusional transport, reaction kinetics and metabolic networks, cellular electro-physiology and ion pumps, capillary-tissue exchange processes, mechanical properties of cells and tissues, and O2 and CO2 exchange with blood; and computational approaches including defining models of physiological systems, setting up differential equations for numerical solutions, optimization, parameter sensitivities and estimation, and testing models for accuracy and for validation against data. The first session is Respiratory Systems Modeling, June 15-21, 2008. It will include lung and airway mechanics, alveolar exchange, pulmonary ventilation and perfusion, pulmonary function testing, surfactant effects, bronchial blood flow and exchange of lipid soluble gases, and image analysis for pulmonary circulatory transport. The second session is Cardiovascular Systems Modeling, August 24-30, 2008. It will include pressure/flow relationships in vessels, vascular mechanics and convective transport, circulatory volumes and transit times, electro-physiology and excitation-contraction coupling, analysing MR, PET, and CT images, and cardiac mechanics and metabolism. For further information, see the web page at http://www/physiome.org. Registration for the courses is at http://www.physiome.org/Course/index.html. For additional information contact Gary Raymond at 206-543-5417, or email him at garyr@u.washington.edu. These courses are funded by NIH/NHLBI 1 T15 HL008516-01 We would appreciate it if you would forward this message to anyone you think would be interested. Sincerely, Jim Bassingthwaighte, MD PhD. Course Director ---------------------------------------------------- From: Patrick De Leenheer Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 09:22:26 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Conference: Mathematical Tools for Multi-Scale Biological Processes Call for abstracts for the International Conference: *Mathematical Tools for Multi-Scale Biological Processes* Venue: Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, June 4 to June 6, 2008. Confirmed invited speakers: * Mary Ballyk, New Mexico State University * Nick Cogan, Florida State University * Jim Cushing, University of Arizona * Gheorghe Craciun, University of Wisconsin-Madison * Jack Dockery, Montana State University * Zhilan Feng, Purdue University * Morris Hirsch, University of California at Berkeley * Jifa Jiang, Tongji University, China * Isaac Klapper, Montana State University * Yang Kuang, Arizona State University * Edo Kussel, New York University * Bingtuan Li, University of Louisville * Janusz Mierczynsky, Wroclaw University of Technology, Poland * Konstantin Mischaikow, Rutgers University * Sergei S. Pilyugin, University of Florida * Sebastian Schreiber, University of California at Davis * Hal Smith, Arizona State University * Eduardo Sontag, Rutgers University * Horst Thieme, Arizona State University * Paul Waltman, Emory University * Gail Wolkowicz, McMaster University, Canada * Jianhong Wu, York University, Canada Early registration ($90) and abstract due date: May 15, 2008. There is limited financial support for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. For more information, see: http://www.math.ufl.edu/~deleenhe/montana/index.html ---------------------------------------------------- From: Linda Casals Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:10:52 -0400 (EDT) Subject: DIMACS/DyDAn Workshop: Investigation of Disease Clusters: DIMACS/DyDAn Workshop: Investigation of Disease Clusters: Transitioning to the 21st Century and Beyond* May 6 - 8, 2008 DIMACS/DyDAn Center, CoRE Building, Rutgers University Organizers: Andrew Lawson, University of South Carolina, alawson at gwm.sc.edu Daniel Wartenberg, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, dew at eohsi.rutgers.edu Presented under the auspices of the Special Focus on Computational and Mathematical Epidemiology and the Center for Dynamic Data Analysis (DyDAn). *Funded by DIMACS and the UMDNJ Academic Partnership for Environmental Public Health Tracking (1 U19 EH000 CDC grant). Registration: For details and to register see: http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/Clusters/ ---------------------------------------------------- From: Helen Moore Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 15:40:45 -0700 Subject: Summer Internship: Computational & Mathematical Modeling, Genentech Summer Internship: Computational and Mathematical Modeling at Genentech, Inc. Ten – twelve week paid internship, starting in June 2008. Exciting opportunity in drug development for a motivated undergraduate or graduate student with a strong quantitative background and an interest in medical research and applications. Project involves analysis of data and testing of a new diagnostic in determining optimal drug schedule. Opportunity to learn about the drug development process at a pioneering biotech company. Main work involved in the project: writing code to automate processing and plotting of several available data sets; learning about the experimental design and coming up with ideas for quantifying the outcomes of the data plots; writing an internal report and giving a presentation summarizing the work and results. One of the exciting aspects of this project is the chance to have broad impact on experimental design across drug development. Desired background: strong programming skills in R, S-Plus, Matlab or Mathematica; studies in bioengineering, applied mathematics, mathematics, computer science, statistics, or pharmacokinetics. Experience using mathematical modeling in biological/medical research settings is a plus. To apply, send a CV and a cover letter to Helen Moore, moore.helen@gene.com. As we work to deliver the next generation of breakthrough medicines for cancer and other serious diseases, we remain committed to our employees and unique culture. Genentech is dedicated to fostering an environment that is inclusive and encourages diversity of thought, style, skills and perspective. Genentech is an equal opportunity employer. ---------------------------------------------------- From: Yuhai Tu Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:14:00 -0400 Subject: Postdoc Position: Quantitative Biology, IBM Watson Research Center A postdoc position is available immediately at IBM Watson Research Center (Yorktown Heights, NY) in Dr. Yuhai Tu's group. We are looking for someone with strong physics and mathematics background (e.g. statistical physics, stochastic processes and nonlinear dynamics) and who is interested in working on quantitative biological problems. Current areas of interest include studying complex biological networks, quantitative modeling of biological signaling pathways, such as the bacterial chemotaxis pathway and molecular level understanding of biological systems, such as bacterial flagellar motor and its switch. Self motivated postdoc researchers are also expected to have the freedom to choose their own research subjects in the general area of quantitative biology. The appointment is for 2 years with an annual salary of $65,000. Interested candidates should contact the PI (yuhai@us.ibm.com, 914-945-2762) directly with their CV and 3 letters of recommendation. ---------------------------------------------------- From: Chris Bauch Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:32:08 -0400 Subject: Postdoctoral Researcher: Infectious Disease Modelling, U Guelph Postdoctoral Researcher: Infectious Disease Modelling Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario, Canada Applications are invited for a 2-year postdoctoral researcher position in mathematical modelling of infectious diseases. The successful applicant will develop differential equation and/or agent-based simulation models of sexually-transmitted infections or paediatric infectious diseases. The researcher will work in an interdisciplinary environment as part of an active and growing research group, and will develop models for use in answering policy-relevant questions. Duties: (1) To develop, parameterize, and analyze infectious disease models; (2) To publish results and present results at conferences; (3) To contribute to the activities of the research group, including participating in lab meetings and interacting with graduate students. Required Expertise: Applicants should have a doctoral degree in mathematics, statistics, physics, computer science, or epidemiology/related fields. Experience in mathematical modelling and programming skills are essential. Ability to write scientific papers and work in an interdisciplinary group setting with epidemiologists and public health researchers is likewise essential. Experience with infectious disease modelling is preferred. Compensation: Salary will be commensurate with experience. Additional income may be available through teaching university-level mathematics courses. To apply: Please send letter of interest and CV (including publications and list of references) to Dr. Chris Bauch, Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1. Email: cbauch@uoguelph.ca. Webpage: www.uoguelph.ca/~cbauch. Applications submitted electronically are preferred. Applications received by 31 May 2008 will receive full consideration, but applications can be considered at any time. ---------------------------------------------------- Subject: SMBnet Reminders To subscribe to the SMB Digest please point your browser at http://list.auckland.ac.nz/mailman/listinfo/math-smbnet and complete the subscription information. Alternatively, if you prefer to simply receive notice when the next issue is available, send mail to LISTSERV@listserv.biu.ac.il with "subscribe SMBnet Your Name" in the body of the mail (omit the quotes and include your name). After you subscribe, you will receive a greeting with additional information. Submissions to appear in the SMB Digest may be sent to SMBnet(at)smb(dot)org Items of interest to the mathematical biology community may be submitted for inclusion in the SMBnet archive. See instructions at: http://smb.org/publications/SMBnet/pubs/fyi . The SMB Digest is also available on the SMB Home Page at http://smb.org/publications/SMBnet/digest/ The contents of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part with attribution. End of SMB Digest **************************************************** ----------------------------------------------------