New Computational Biology Center Will Boost Cancer Research

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Tuesday, 23 July 2002

With the recruitment of prominent computational biologist Chris Sander, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) begins a major initiative to develop computational methods in basic biology and cancer research and to obtain medical knowledge from the human genome. MSKCC's new Computational Biology Center is an important plank in an expanding research program bridging basic and clinical cancer research.

"Chris Sander's expertise in analyzing protein structures and genomic information, and his work to represent biological pathways in computational form and simulate the behavior of molecules, cells, and organs accurately on computers, will help us deliver on the promise of the Human Genome Project," said MSKCC's president Harold Varmus.

"The faculty and staff of the Computational Biology Center will collaborate with experimental researchers and clinicians to translate massive data from new high-throughput technologies such as DNA chips and proteomic instruments into practical knowledge. The new center will build vital new bridges between experts in molecular biology and doctors who understand cancer and its effects on people."

Computational biologists combine biology with computer algorithms and databases to conduct biological research on powerful computers -- so-called "dry" laboratories -- in a way that complements and strengthens traditional laboratory and clinical research. "Simply put, computational biologists use computer software to try to simulate what goes on in organisms from the molecular level up to the organism as a whole, and to derive useful predictions from those simulations," explained Dr. Sander. "As data roll out in the wake of the Human Genome Project -- fascinating new information about genetic variation, the molecular profiles of cells and tissues, and the function and structure of key genes -- I expect us to use computational methods, in collaboration with clinicians, to help improve the lives of people affected by cancer."

The new Computational Biology Center will enlist specialists from diverse disciplines such as mathematics, physics, genetics, engineering, and computer science to collaborate with cancer investigators in projects bridging across basic and applied research to clinical practice. Computational biology faculty members will head seven new research groups and a new bioinformatics core facility will provide internal training, collaboration, and infrastructure support.

"In the long run, clinical and laboratory investigators throughout MSKCC will be able to use new tools of computational biology and bioinformatics in their own research. A new way of doing biology will emerge, using both laboratory techniques and computational techniques," explained Dr. Sander. "Sometimes laboratory researchers will be in the lead and computational scientists will follow, and sometimes it will be the other way around." More than 70 new staff members are expected to join the center over the next several years.

According to Dr. Sander, computational biology can help interpret detailed molecular profiles of cancerous and noncancerous cells, molecular response profiles of therapeutic agents, and a person's genetic profile to assist in the development of better diagnostics and prognostics as well as improved therapies. Intelligent use of computational methods using detailed molecular and genomic data is expected to reduce the trial and error of drug development and possibly lead to shorter, more accurate clinical trials.

"The main attraction of Sloan-Kettering for me is the challenge of combining genomics and computational biology in a new way, at a premier cancer hospital and medical research institution, and in close collaboration with MSKCC's tri-institutional sister institutions Rockefeller University and Weill Medical College of Cornell University," Dr. Sander said. "By simulating complex biological processes in ways people can understand and apply, computer tools will help us make better discoveries and better judgments."

Dr. Sander is executive editor of Bioinformatics, the leading journal in the field. An international leader in structural genomics, he is an advisor to the National Institutes of Health, the Mayo Clinic, the Human Genome Project in Germany, and the IBM Deep Computing Initiative.

Recently, he has been a visiting scientist at the Harvard Center for Genomics Research and at the MIT Genome Center. Dr. Sander previously worked as Chief Information Science Officer with Millennium Predictive Medicine and Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and with the European Bioinformatics Institute. He was founding chair of the Department of Biocomputing at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory after completing postdoctoral research at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot and at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg. His PhD is in theoretical physics.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is the world's oldest and largest institution devoted to prevention, patient care, research, and education in cancer. Our scientists and clinicians generate innovative approaches to better understand, diagnose, and treat cancer. Our specialists are leaders in biomedical research and in translating the latest research to advance the standard of cancer care worldwide.

For more information, or to contact Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, see their website at: www.mskcc.org