Cancer Systems Biology

3 credits · Graduate School

This course introduces students to the field of Cancer Systems Biology, which aims to frame cancer as a complex biological system through multidisciplinary approaches linking biology, engineering, and computer science. It is designed to teach students how to apply "systems thinking" to the analysis and modeling of fundamental questions in cancer research. The course will provide an overview of basic concepts in systems biology, including complexity, systems dynamics, networks, evolution and game theory. A survey of mathematical, statistical and computational tools will empower students to apply these concepts to concrete cancer biology projects. Examples of class activities include: construction of gene or signaling networks using literature- based knowledge and existing databases; visualization of multidimensional data; and, basic programming workshops. There will be strong emphasis on designing "systems" experiments and interpreting results in a modern cancer research laboratory. [3] Tyson