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National Library of Medicine Computational Biology and Medicine Training Program
The Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training has developed a strong multi disciplinary, multi-institutional training program in computational biology and medicine with this National Library of Medicine (NLM) program as its central core. Our trainees work at the interface of computing and biology, developing and applying advanced tools of informatics algorithms, simulation strategies, and visualization and analysis techniques to important problems. Program graduates have compiled an outstanding record of scientific accomplishment, and many of our trainees have now assumed academic positions and posts of responsibility in industry. Our trainees are involved in work at the forefront of biological and biomedical sciences in the following focus areas: Informatics; Multidimensional and Functional Imaging; and Simulations of Macromolecular and Cellular Behavior. NLM funding combines with contributions from the institutions and from other funding sources to create a unique and highly effective training environment in an exciting and challenging research milieu.
Computational Biology - Informatics, Simulation, and Multi-dimensional Imaging
Computing and related technologies offer markedly improved tools for acquiring and managing information in biomedical settings. Powerful analytic programs are already at work in molecular biology; optical disk technology is enriching educational efforts; and the first fruits of artificial intelligence research can be seen in the clinical arena. Little elaboration of current trends in information technology is required to construct some exciting views of the future. We anticipate further impressive applications of computing to the problems of managing information in medicine. To achieve the levels of effectiveness to which they aspire and which the public demands of them, academic medical centers need to integrate these new technologies fully into virtually all their endeavors. One of the important determinants of their success will be their development of a group of researchers and clinicians who can fully exploit the power of advanced computing in a range of settings from the laboratory to the bedside. The Human Genome Project illustrates a number of the challenges and opportunities that arise from the confluence of advanced computing and biology.
Each living thing derives its existence from nucleic acid coding sequences. From viruses to bacteria to man, every organism has its own genetic message that, when transcribed and translated to produce proteins, brings the organism to life. The complete sequencing of the DNA bases that make up the genome of some very simple organisms has been achieved. The National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy are supporting the extension of existing techniques to determine the DNA sequences of the human genome. This problem in itself is enormously difficult, and knowledge of the DNA sequences alone would be of little value. Scientists must be able to read and interpret the genetic messages and also understand the roles that the gene products, primarily proteins, play in order to appreciate how the system works and what goes awry in diseased states. Here we propose a training program in medical informatics to prepare pre- and postdoctoral students to exploit advanced computing and visualization in the work of the Genome Project and other important biomedical and clinical endeavors. At the heart of our training program will be those aspects of medical informatics that help researchers and clinicians cope with the immense amount of diverse information about phenomena produced by advances investigative tools. The powerful and precise analytical tools that are available currently increase the flux of data and demand more robust methods of organization and management.
One of the most notable of these methods is "analysis by synthesis" - the working out in great detail the consequences of simple theories in complex situations. Computational experiments are enriching scientific investigation by allowing scientists to determine the consequences of theories with a minimum of approximations or simplifications. In virtually all cases, the results of computational experiments are presented through the extensive use of computer graphics.
Visualization has always played an important role in scientific thinking, and the ability of the computer to present a dynamic range of visual images amplifies the ability of the scientist to understand aspects of nature. For example, the close coupling of very high-speed computers to the process of scientific investigation will open the door to artificial realities. Grounded in computational models and mediated through a range of new interactive technologies, these simulated environments may be as "real" as the realities they depict. Such advances will fundamentally change the work of the community of researchers and clinicians by giving them entirely new ways to see the data and subjects of their experiments.
Revolutions in science have often been initiated by technical advances that made feasible experiments judged previously to be impossible. Many of these experiments have revealed aspects of reality previously unknown and even unsuspected. The most profound effect of computing on basic and clinical research may lie in this ability to construct views of a previously unseen reality, enabling users to surmount problems of scale in manipulating atoms and organ systems alike. Certainly computer-assisted analysis and visualization will expand the scope of biomedical knowledge. Less certainly, but perhaps more intriguingly, the computer may also change the nature of that knowledge.
Our NLM Training Program is conducted within the integrated training framework of the W. M. Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training, a joint endeavor of Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, the University of Houston, UT Health Science Center at Houston, UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, and UTMB at Galveston.
We continue to combine formal education in computer science and medicine, with an emphasis on basic science, with experiential learning in research settings where advanced work is underway on a range of important biomedical problems.
The principal training faculty of the NLM Training Program are at the forefront of a number of key areas of biomedicine and computer science, and their experimental and theoretical work will provide an excellent training environment for an important aspect of medical informatics.
For information about
the Gulf Coast Consortia (GCC),
other Keck Center Training Programs,
and
the GCC Research Consortia,
please go to GCC Home
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