Principal Investigator Linda Griffith
Co-investigators Ernest Fraenkel , Leona Samson , Steven Tannenbaum , Michael Yaffe , Sangeeta Bhatia , Bevin Engelward , Jongyoon Han , Charles Harvey , Harold Hemond , Douglas Lauffenburger , Scott Manalis , Katharina Ribbeck , Peter So , Bruce Tidor , Forest White
The studies within this research theme at the Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS) are aimed at developing new experimental tools and analytical methods spanning the molecular level to the systems level, for exploring biological responses to environmental exposures. The experimental tools include the following: tissue engineered physiological microreactors that bridge the gap between cell culture, animal models, and humans; developing genomic and proteomic approaches for systematic measurements; applying state-of-the-art mechanical engineering to devise new ways of monitoring biological events and single molecule biochemical events; multiphoton imaging methods that allow in situ quantification of events such as single cell apoptosis and DNA recombination; mathematical modeling at the systems biology level of cellular events such as apoptosis; analytical methods using statistical (Bayesian) and deterministic models of signal transduction networks and computational models of protein interactions in the context of different cell compartments. Given the nature of these studies, major progress has so far been made at the molecular, pathways and networks, and cellular and tissue levels.