Summit on Systems Biology 2007

Speakers

Leroy Hood, MD, Ph.D.

Dr. Hood earned an MD from Johns Hopkins University in 1964 and a PhD in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1968. His research has focused on molecular immunology and biotechnology. His interests also include autoimmune diseases, cancer biology, and mammalian development.

In 1992, Dr. Hood moved to the University of Washington to create the cross-disciplinary Department of Molecular Biotechnology,bringing together chemists, engineers, computer scientists, applied physicists and biologists. In 2000, he founded the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle to pioneer systems approaches to biology and medicine. Dr. Hood also played a role in founding several biotechnology companies, including Amgen, Applied Biosystems, Systemix, Darwin, Rosetta, and MacroGenics. Dr. Hood has published more than 600 peer-reviewed papers and co-authored textbooks in biochemistry, immunology, molecular biology and genetics. He also co-edited Code of Codes, a book discussing scientific, social, and ethical issues raised by genetic research. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Association of Arts and Sciences.

Numerous organizations have honored Dr. Hood with awards for his study of immune diversity, development of instruments to study biology and medicine, distinguished contributions to medical science, improvements to diagnostic methods, and efforts to open doors for new treatments and cures. For example, in addition to the 2003 Emerson award and the 2002Kyoto Prize, Dr. Hood received the 2001 SBS Achievement Award, the 1998 Distinguished Service Award from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, the 1990 American College of Physicians Award for distinguished contributions in science as related to medicine, and the 1987 Lasker Award for studies on the mechanism of immune diversity.

Dr. Hood also holds honorary degrees from Montana State University, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York, the University of British Columbia, the University of Southern California, Wesleyan University, Whitman College, Bates College, Johns Hopkins University, and Pennsylvania State University.

Claire M. Fraser-Liggett, Ph.D.

Claire M. Fraser, Ph.D., is Director, Institute of Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine. As former President and Director of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Rockville, MD. Dr. Fraser led the TIGR teams that sequenced the genomes of Mycoplasma genitalium, the spirochetes Treponema pallidum and Borrelia burgdorfei, and two species of Chlamydia. She oversaw several major research projects, including the genomic sequencing of Bacillus anthracis, and is a member of National Research Council committees on countering bioterrorism and on domestic animal genomics. She also has served on review committees of the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Fraser has published more than 160 articles in scientific journals and books. She has been a reviewer for nine scientific journals, currently serving a second term on the editorial board of The Journal of Biological Chemistry. Before becoming TIGR's president in 1998, Dr. Fraser was the Institute's Vice President of Research and Director of its Microbial Genomics Department. She has received numerous academic and professional honors, including professorships in both microbiology and in pharmacology at The George Washington University.

Masaru Tomita, Ph.D.

Masaru Tomita is a professor and the Director of Institute for Advanced Biosciences, Keio University. He received B.S (1981) in Mathematics from Keio University, M.S (1983) and Ph.D (1985) in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, and another Ph.D (1994) in Molecular Biology from Keio University. Dr. Tomita is a recipient of Presidential Young Investigators Award from National Science Foundation of USA (1988).

Research Fields are Bioinformatics, Genome Informatics, Theoretical Molecular Biology, Natural Language Processing, and Artificial Intelligence. He is the PI of E-CELL Project, and the chairperson of Special Interest Group of Bioloigical Simulation (SIGSIM) of International Society for Computational Biology (ICSB).

Bernhard Ø. Palsson, Ph.D.

Bernhard Palsson is The Galetti Professor of Bioengineering and Adjunct Professor Medicine at the University of California , San Diego.

Brief History: Professor Palsson earned a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1984. He held a faculty position at the University of Michigan from 1984 to 1995. He has been with UCSD since 1995.  He is the author of over 220 peer reviewed scientific articles. He co-authored the text TISSUE ENGINEERING, Prentice Hall in 2004, and SYSTEMS BIOLOGY, Cambridge University Press in 2006. He sits on the editorial boards of several bioengineering and biotechnology journals.

Research Interest: Professor Palsson current research at UCSD focuses on 1) the reconstruction of genome-scale biochemical reaction networks, 2) the development of mathematical analysis procedures for genome-scale models, and 3) the experimental verification of genome-scale models with current emphasis on cellular metabolism and transcriptional regulation in E. coli and Yeast.

George Church, Ph.D.

George Church is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Computational Genetics. With degrees from Duke University in Chemistry and Zoology, he co-authored research on 3D-software & RNA structure with Sung-Hou Kim. His PhD from Harvard in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology with Wally Gilbert included the first direct genomic sequencing method in 1984; initiating the Human Genome Project then as a Research Scientist at newly-formed Biogen Inc. and a Monsanto Life Sciences Research Fellow at UCSF. He invented the broadly-applied concepts of molecular multiplexing and tags, homologous recombination methods, and array DNA synthesizers. Technology transfer of automated sequencing & software to Genome Therapeutics Corp. resulted in the first commercial genome sequence (the human pathogen, H. pylori, 1994). He has served in advisory roles for 12 journals, 5 granting agencies and 22 biotech companies. Current research focuses on integrating biosystems-modeling with personal genomics & synthetic biology.

Michael A. Savageau, Ph.D.

Michael A. Savageau, earned a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering and Cell Physiology fromStanford University in 1967. He was the founder and director of the Bioinformatics Program from 1998 to 2001, and was among the first to identify the need for an integrated approach to understand the processes and the enormous amounts of data arising from the molecular study of biological systems. He began to develop the field of biochemical systems analysis more than 25 years ago. He has chaired the Special Study Section on Biochemical Modeling at the National Institutes of Health since 2000 and was the initial principal investigator for a $19 million Michigan Life Sciences Research Corridor grant focusing on biological information. He has served on the editorial boards of several prestigious journals. He has received numerous honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Germany. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and senior fellow in the Michigan Society of Fellows. The Medical School honored him with an international symposium in honor of his 60th birthday.

Marc Vidal, Ph.D.

Dr. Vidal received his Ph.D. in 1991 from Gembloux University (Belgium) for work performed at Northwestern University. He identified the yeast genes SIN3 and RPD3, and demonstrated that they encode global transcriptional regulators. During postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, he developed the reverse two-hybrid system to genetically characterize protein-protein interactions. In 2000, he joined DFCI, where his research focuses on understanding global and local properties of interactome networks.

James B. Bassingthwaighte, MD, Ph.D.

James B. Bassingthwaighte, Professor of Bioengineering, Biomathematics and Radiology at the University of Washington, is currently the Editor of the Annals of Biomedical Engineering and Chairman of the Commission on Bioengineering in Physiology, International Union of Physiological Sciences. He received his BA and MD from the University of Toronto . Following post-graduate work in Medicine and Cardiology at the Postgraduate Medical School of London, he obtained his Ph.D. in Physiology from theMayo Graduate School of Medicine. Dr. Bassingthwaighte joined the Mayo faculty, advancing to Professor of Physiology and of Medicine. He came to the University of Washington in 1975, serving as Director of the Center for Bioengineering for 5 years. He is Affiliate Professor of Physiology at Universiteit Maastricht, The Netherlands. Dr. Bassingthwaighte is the recipient of numerous awards such as an NIH Research Career Development Award, the Louis and Arthur Lucian Award of McGill University , the Alza Award of the Biomedical Engineering Society and the Burlington Resources Foundation Faculty Achievement Award for Research.

His current research is centered on the mechanisms of flow, transport, and metabolism of substrates and hormones in the heart and throughout the body. The work emphasizes the use of quantitative mathematical models for integrative systems analysis in physiology and in image analysis; he serves as Director of the National Simulation Resource for Circulatory Mass Transport and Exchange.

Rene Thomas, PhD.

Dr. Thomas' main contributions include: Discovery of DNA denaturation (1951), Thomas-Bertani effect: demonstration of a direct block of viral replication by the repressor responsible for immunity in temperate bacteriophages (1964), the transfer of information from a DNA molecule to its two daughter-molecules does not involve its transit via a specific protein that would carry all this information (1967), the Trans-activation (initially called trans-induction) of proviral genes (1965)**(this permitted to demonstrate (in parallel with E. Englesberg, working on another system, and with W. Dove) the existence of positive control in biological systems (temperate bacteriophages)) 1965, elaboration of a method of logical analysis of complex biological networks (1970 - now), extension of the concept of feedback circuit. Its use in biology (viral development, cell differentiation, memory) and in nonlinear dynamics (1976 - now), the main contribution in this field are probably the notions that: 1) positive circuits are a prerequisite for multistationarity (and hence for differentiation and memory) and 2) negative circuits are required for the existence of an attractor, punctual (stable steady state), periodic (limit cycle) or chaotic (and thus homeostasis, with or without oscillations). Nonlinear dynamics can be revisited in terms of circuits. Much of the behaviour of complex systems can be disentangled by an appropriate examination of the Jacobian matrix.

Rita R. Colwell, Ph.D.

Dr. Rita R. Colwell was Director of the National Science Foundation from 1998 to 2004. Dr. Colwell holds a B.S. in Bacteriology and an M.S. in Genetics, from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from the University of Washington. Dr. Colwell spearheaded the agency's emphases in K-12 science and mathematics education, graduate science and engineering education/training and the increased participation of women and minorities in science and engineering. Her policy approach enabled the agency to strengthen its core activities, as well as establish major initiatives, including Nanotechnology, Biocomplexity, Information Technology, Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences and the 21^st Century Workforce. In her capacity as NSF Director, she served as Co-chair of the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council. Under her leadership, the Foundation received significant budget increases, and its funding recently reached a level of more than $5.3 billion. Before coming to NSF, Dr. Colwell was President of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, 1991-1998, and she remains Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology (on leave) at the University Maryland. She was also a member of the National Science Board from 1984 to 1990.

Dr. Colwell has held many advisory positions in the U.S. Government, non-profit science policy organizations, and private foundations, as well as in the international scientific research community. She is a nationally respected scientist and educator, and has authored or co-authored 16 books and more than 600 scientific publications. She produced the award-winning film, Invisible Seas, and has served on editorial boards of numerous scientific journals. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Medal of Distinction from Columbia University, the Gold Medal of Charles University, Prague, the UCLA Medal from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Alumna Summa Laude Dignata from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Joseph R. Nevins, Ph.D.

Dr. Joseph R. Nevins is James B. Duke Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke University Medical Center.  He is also an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  He is also the Director of the Duke Center for Genome Technology. Dr. Nevins' research focuses on the molecular mechanisms controlling gene expression in animal cells and in particular, the identification of regulatory pathways that govern the growth of normal cells and which are targets for oncogenic events. This includes studies that apply genomic analysis to the study of cancer cells, particularly the use of gene expression microarray analysis to classify and characterize the behavior of breast cancers.

Joe Loscalzo, MD, Ph.D.

Dr. Joe Loscalzo received an A.B. in biochemistry, summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972, and an M.D. and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the same institution in 1978. He then trained in internal medicine and in cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School from 1978 through 1984, after which he joined the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and was appointed Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School . In 1994, he moved to Boston University as Chief of Cardiology, Director of the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, and Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine. In 1997 he was appointed Wade Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Boston University. In July of 2005, he returned to Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School as Physician-in-Chief, Chairman of the Department of Medicine, and Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine.

Stuart Kauffman, MD

Dr. Kauffman moved to Calgary, Alberta in 2004 after being appointed director of the IBI and professor to the departments of Biological Sciences and Physics and Astronomy in the U of C’s Faculty of Science. Shortly after, in May 2005, he was named an iCore Chair in Biocomplexity and Informatics (iCore, or Informatics Circle of Research Excellence, is a program established by the Government of Alberta to foster world-class, university-based research).

Originally a medical doctor, Kauffman is an emeritus professor of biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, and a seminal member and an external professor of the Santa Fe Institute. Also a MacArthur Fellow and a Trotter Prize winner, Kauffman has published three major books, among them is /At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity/ (1995), which the Oxford University Press says “weaves together the excitement of intellectual discovery and a fertile mix of insights to give the general reader a fascinating look at this new science − and at the forces for order that lie at the edge of chaos.”

Joe Nevins, PhD

Dr. Joseph Nevins is Barbara Levine Professor of Breast Cancer Genomics and Director of the IGSP's Center for Applied Genomics & Technology. His research focuses on the gene regulatory events associated with the control of cellular proliferation and cell fate, including the dysregulation that contributes to oncogenesis. This work has specifically focused on the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor (Rb) and the role of this protein in controlling the E2F transcription factor activities. Additionally, work in the Nevins lab has focused on the interplay of cellular signaling pathways that in combination control cell proliferation including the role of Ras, Myc, and other activities. Finally, a major component of the effort in the lab focuses on the use of genome-scale measures of gene expression, employing DNA microarrays, to identify expression profiles that characterize oncogenic pathways and that define tumor phenotypes of importance in determining clinical outcomes.

Cristoph Adami, PhD.

Chris Adami is a pioneer in research on “digital life”: mutating and adapting computer viruses living in a controlled computer environment, as a tool for investigating basic life science questions. Dr. Adami was instrumental in developing the “Avida Artifical Life” system, which creates an environment within any standard computer in which populations of computer programs can live, evolve, and adapt. In addition to studying the principles governing evolving systems, he also engages in research concerning quantum information theory and computation. Professor Adami earned his PhD in physics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Prior to Keck Graduate Institute, he was a faculty associate at Caltech and was a Principal Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He is the recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal.

Thomas E. Johnson, PhD

Dr. Johnson is currently a Professor in the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado at Boulder , where he has been since 1988. Dr. Johnson received his Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Biological Sciences in 1970 and his PhD in Genetics from the University of Washington in 1975. Dr. Johnson is the author of about 200 peer-reviewed papers, reviews and book chapters. He has served on numerous grant review committees for the NIH, NSF and AFAR and many other societies and is a charter member of the Mechanisms of Aging And Development (CMAD) Study Section . Honors include the Busse Research Award for Biomedical Gerontology (1993), the Nathan Shock Memorial Lecture (1995), election to Chair the Gordon Conference on the Biology of Aging (1997), the Ellison Medical Foundation Senior Scholar Award (1999), the Kleemeier Award (2002), the Sam Goldstein Award (2002, 2004) and President of the American Aging Association (2007). He is a fellow of many societies for the study of aging and has held research career development awards from the NIH since 1988. He has been called “The Father of Genetic Research in Aging”. His first publication, quantifying the genetic specification of longevity, was in 1982. He mapped the first gene shown to extend longevity (age-1) in 1988 and is avidly pursuing these interests in C. elegans, mice, tissue culture cells and humans.

His current interests include the identification and characterization of additional longevity genes in C. elegans as well as a thorough understanding of how these mutations utilize and induce increased resistance to oxidative stress in response to oxidative insults. He is utilizing such techniques as high-throughput RNAi screening, microarray analysis, and sophisticated bioinformatics analyses. He also is interested in aging in mice, as being studied through the largest extant series of recombinant inbred strains: the LXS, where he is identifying genes involved in specifying life span and physiological responses to DR. Finally he also maintains a separate research interest in the identification of genes leading to alcohol addiction, using the Long and Short-Sleep mouse lines as a model for alcohol sensitivity.

Raimond L. Winslow, PhD

Dr. Winslow is a leader in the study of cardiovascular function through development and application of mathematical and computational models based on experimental data. His work on cardiovascular systems biology includes modeling of sub-cellular processes such as beta-adrenergic signaling, mitochondrial energy production and excitation-contraction coupling, as well as integrative modeling of cell and tissue function. He is also recognized for his work in the areas of biomedical data organization and integration and biomedical high-performance computing. Dr. Winslow is Director of the Donald W. Reynolds Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center Bioinformatics Core. He is also Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Bioinformatics & Modeling, Associate Director of the Whitaker Biomedical Engineering Institute and Director of the Biomedical Engineering PhD Training Program. Dr. Winslow is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, with joint appointments in the Departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Division of Biomedical Informatics.

Robert Gerszten, MD

Dr. Gerszten's laboratory focuses on the rapid signaling mechanisms that arrest movement of leukocytes as they enter areas of inflammation. He uses adenoviral gene transfer to manipulate candidate signaling molecules in leukocytes and tests the impact of these manipulations on an in vitro model of the vasculature. He is also using novel proteomics approachs to identify new leukocyte proteins that can be rapidly activated by stimuli such as chemokines, and are responsible for inducing firm arrest in the vasculature. Identification of the signaling pathways responsible for leukocyte recruitment could provide further insights into cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in a variety of human inflammatory diseases, and potentially identify new targets for therapeutic intervention.

Keith Elliston, PhD

Keith Elliston is an experienced entrepreneur and intrapreneur who has dedicated his career to the development of leading-edge technology for drug discovery. Dr. Elliston spent over 10 years with Merck Research Laboratories, where he served as the director of bioinformatics, and the scientific director of the Merck Gene Index project. He then joined Bayer Pharmaceuticals where he founded their global genomics and bioinformatics efforts, and was the section head of Genomics and the worldwide head of Bioinformatics. In 1997, Dr. Elliston joined Gene Logic as chief scientific officer and pioneered the development and application of molecular profiling to drug discovery. He was responsible for the development and management of six pharmaceutical research partnerships representing over $350 million in potential revenues. In 1999, Dr. Elliston founded Viaken Systems, where he was chairman, president and CEO.

Dr. Elliston has been an advisor to Oak Investment Partners, Atlas Ventures and other biotechnology venture capital groups, and has participated in the early stage development of a number of successful biotech companies. Dr. Elliston received an M.S. in genetics from the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from Rutgers University.

David Balshaw, PhD

David Balshaw earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology and cellular biophysics at the University of Cincinnati and did postdoctoral work in biochemistry and biophysics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill prior to joining the NIH. His research interests include modeling of ion transport processes in skeletal and cardiac muscle and the integration of molecular biology, biochemistry and phenotypic response into models of intracellular Calcium release and signaling. He joined NIH in 2001 as a Program Administrator at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute where he oversaw a portfolio in myocardial ischemia and ischemic preconditioning.

Dr. Balshaw moved to his current position as a Program Director in the Center for Risk and Integrated Sciences at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences in 2003. He oversees a portfolio focusing on the development and application of emerging technologies to the understanding of how environmental exposures influence human disease. This portfolio includes interdisciplinary approaches to research, nanotechnology, ‘omics’ technologies, and Systems Biology. In this capacity he serves as the Research Coordinator for the Toxicogenomics Research Consortium and is the lead Program Official on the NIEHS DISCOVER Centers Program and the Genes, Environment and Health Initiative program on developing sensors for environmental exposure assessment.

Dr. Balshaw represents NIEHS on several NIH and Government wide activities including several projects of the NIH Roadmap, the NIH Bioengineering and Bioinformatics Consortia, and the Interagency Modeling and Analysis Group. He is co-chair of NIH’s Systems Biology Interest Group.

Burt A. Adelman, M.D.

Dr. Adelman was previously Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Biogen, a position he attained in October 2001. Prior to that time, Dr. Adelman was Vice President of Medical Research. He began his career with Biogen in 1991, joining the company as Director of Medical Research, and has held positions of increasing responsibility including Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, and Vice President, Development Operations. In that role he oversaw the Preclinical Development, Medical Operations and Regulatory Affairs groups. Since 1992, Dr. Adelman has served as a lecturer at Harvard Medical School. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI).

Dr. Bruce J. West, PhD

Dr. West is the Chief Scientist (ST) of Mathematical & Information Science, AMSRD-ARL-RO-M, 1999-present. His research focus has been on the development of the mathematical tools necessary to understand complex phenomena as they apply to the nascent discipline of Network Science. He has lead the development of a Nonlinear Science program at ARO starting in 2006. His work on the fractional calculus for the modeling of complex phenomena lead to Physics of Fractal Operators (with Bologna and Grigolini, Springer, 2003) for which he received the Army Research Laboratory Award for Publication in 2003. As exemplars of complex networks he has pursued research in physiology and the modeling of nonlinear biomedical phenomena leading to the text Biodynamics: Why the Wirewalker Doesn’t Fall (with L. Griffin, Wiley & Sons, 2004). His research has provided new measures for the detection and assessment of injury, disease and other physiologic pathologies of significance to the soldier. These measures include the assessment of the level of injury in head trauma, the detection of abnormalities in the cardiovascular network and in the motor control network for human locomotion, the detection of micro-seizures during sleep and quantitative indicators of a soldier’s general state of health. These measures are laid out in a pedagogic manner in the popular book Where Medicine Went Wrong (World Scientific, 2006). Dr. West has over 350 publication and in excess of 6,000 citations to his research.

Before coming to ARO Dr. West was Professor of Physics, University of North Texas, 1989-1999; Chair of the Department of Physics 1989-1993; and Founding Director of the Center for Nonlinear Science 1994-1999. During his time at the university he did research into the quantum manifestations of chaos (energy level repulsion, ionization rate enhancement, breakdown of the Correspondence Principle); the foundations of statistical mechanics (getting random fluctuations without statistics, failure of the Green-Kubo relation, Lévy statistics); nonlinear processing techniques applied to biomedical phenomena. He received the Decker Scholar Award (1993) and the UNT President’s Award for research (1994). Prior to becoming a university professor Dr. West was Director, Division of Applied Nonlinear Science, La Jolla Institute, 1983-1989. During this period he worked on the development of nonlinear dynamical models of biomedical phenomena, physical oceanography and the statistical mechanical foundations of thermodynamics. Specifically he helped develop ways to use renormalization group concepts to extract pattern information from biomedical time series.

Dr. West was Associate Director, Center for the Studies of Nonlinear Dynamics, La Jolla Institute, 1979-1983. He applied some of the newly emerging concepts in nonlinear dynamics systems theory to nonlinear water wave fields and turbulence. He also examined how the branching structure of the lung and other physiological structures could be described by scaling. He graduated with a Ph. D. in Nuclear Physics from the University of Rochester in 1970, after which he did two years as a post doctoral researcher before becoming the first full time employee of a small private company Physical Dynamics Inc. In 1976 he and some senior scientists became the founding members of the La Jolla Institute, where he remained in various positions until joining the university in 1989.

Martin Meier-Schellersheim, PhD

Martin Meier-Schellersheim received his PhD in Physics from the University of Hamburg, Germany in 2001. He is a founding member of the newly created Program in Systems Immunology and Infectious Disease Modeling (PSIIM, http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/labs/aboutlabs/psiim) at the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH (see NIH press release: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jul2006/niaid-12.htm). An important component of the computational biology group of the PSIIM is the modeling and simulation software 'simmune' (http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/labs/aboutlabs/psiim/computationalBiology/), created by Meier-Schellersheim and his colleagues, that considerably facilitates the creation of multi-scale models ranging from bimolecular interactions to the behavior of multi-cellular systems.