News

• CCMCB Director Qing Nie Featured in TheScientist article "New School" to Discuss the Future of Graduate Program Involving Interdisciplinary Collaboration
In the most recent issue of TheScientist, CMCB Director Qing Nie explained why graduate programs at the interface of quantitative and biological sciences set the stage for more interdisciplinary collaboration. “We believe the traditional training programs either for math or biology are not sufficient to produce the type of students that can best work in the areas of mathematical, computational, and physical biology.” Qing Nie helped launch the mathematical and computational biology (MCB) graduate program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in January 2007.

• CMCB Outreach Student Cathy Sun Named Intel STS 2014 Semifinalist
Cathy Sun, a CMCB Outreach program participant recently named Intel STS 2014 Semifinalist with the project titled "Uncovering Complex Feedback Mechanisms in Feather Development". In 2013, the same project won her several awards, including a second medal from American Petroleum Institute, a third place medal from Ventura County Science Fair in Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering category, and a Honorable Mention certificate from Society of Women's Engineering. The Intel Science Talent Search (STS) is the nation's most prestigious pre-college science competition. Congratulations Cathy!

• CMCB Director Qing Nie Named Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Dr. Qing Nie has been named fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Nie, a professor of mathematics, was selected for his work related to the field of systems biology and for developing pioneering educational programs for training students in mathematical and systems biology. "I’m excited and honored to be elected fellow of AAAS," says Professor Nie. "This acknowledgement is also a testament to UCI’s strengths in both research and education at the interface between mathematics and biology." Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

This year, 388 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. Click here to read the formal announcement. The award ceremony will be held at the 2014 AAAS Annual Meeting in Chicago.

• CMCB Outreach Student Cathy Sun Won Multiple Awards

Cathy Sun, a CMCB Outreach program participant recently won several science awards. Her project titled "Uncovering Complex Feedback Mechanisms in Chicken Feather Development" brought home a second medal from American Petroleum Institute, a third place medal from Ventura County Science Fair in Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering category, and a Honorable Mention certificate from Society of Women's Engineering.

In 2012, she worked with Dr. Nie and Dr. Likun Zheng and used differential equations to examine the development of bird feathers. More specifically, Cathy studied how feedback loops affects the actions and results of transit-amplifying cells. Congratulations Cathy!

• CMCB Center Director Qing Nie Awarded $2 Million NSF Grant
Qing Nie, CMCB Director and a professor from Department of Mathematics and Biomedical Engineering along with Xing DFai, a professor from Department of Biological Chemistry have been awarded $2 million by the National Science Foundation to study epithelial tissue development and regulation using mathematical models and systems biology experiemntal methods. "This award reflects the strong interdisciplinary collaboration promoted by the Center for Mathematical & Computational Biology," said center director Nie. "We look forward to furthering our research as well as continuing to create more opportunities and training for our students" The work will shed new light on skin research and have important implications for epithelial tissue engineering and cancer theraphy.

• Introducing the Mathematical and Computational Biology for Undergraduates Program (MCBU) more>>

• CMCB Faculty Members Won the Best Paper Award

A recent paper by a group of CMCB members (Jinzhi Lei, Frederic Y. M. Wan, Arthur D. Lander and Qing Nie, Robustness of signaling gradient in drosophila wing imaginal disc, 2011, Vol 16 no. 3, p835 – 866) has won the 2011 best paper award for the journal: Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems (DCDS) - Series B. This work provides a novel mathematical theory on robustness of morphogen systems, showing several biological insights on developmental patterning. The award, established this year and presented for the first time, consists of a prize of $2000 and a plaque, and it was recently announcement at the 9th AIMS Conference on Dynamical Systems, Differential Equations and Applications held at Orlando, Florida, USA July 1 - 5, 2012.

• CMCB Faculty Members Awarded NSF Grant to Create Undergraduate Mathematical and Computational Biology Program

CMCB members German Enciso, John Lowengrub, Qing Nie, and Fred Wan along with an interdisciplinary group of faculty members Sarah Eichorn, Brad Hughes, Larry Marsh, Diane O'Dowd, and Domink Wodarz, were recently awarded a 3-year, $800,000 NSF Grant to create a new interdisciplinary research and educational program in mathematical and computational biology for UCI undergraduates.
Led by one of CMCB Executive Committee Member, Fred Wan , the program not only creates a new mathematics department major speicalizing in Mathematical Biology, it also provides significant research opportunities for both mathematics and biology undergraduate students.
Congratulations!

•9/2/10 - CMCB Director Qing Serving as Acting MCB Director for the Fall Quarter 2010
Dr. Qing Nie, current Associate Director of the MCB Program, will serve as Acting MCB Program Director, beginning September 7, 2010, as Dr. Frederic Wan will be on sabbatical leave during this coming fall quarter.

3/31/10 - CMCB Executive Committee Member Frederic Y.M. Wan Elected as a SIAM Fellow
Dr. Frederic Y.M. Wan, Director of Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology Graduate Programs (MCB) and a faculty member from Department of Mathematics is named as a fellow of Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). The SIAM Fellows Program was created in 2009 to recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to the field. Click here for more information about Fellows of SIAM.
Dr. Wan will be honored in July at SIAM's annual meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Congratulations!

1/11/10 - The 2nd UCIrvine Mathematical Systems Biology symposium - "Collective Dynamics in Biological Systems" was held on January 11-12, 2010 at the Beckman Center in Irvine, CA. Click here for more information.
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10/3/09 - NAS declares a new biology for the 21st Century
According to a new book from the National Academy, now more than ever, biology has the potential to contribute practical solutions to many of the major challenges confronting the United States and the world. A New Biology for the 21st Century recommends that a "New Biology" approach--one that depends on greater integration within biology, and closer collaboration with physical, computational, and earth scientists, mathematicians and engineers--be used to find solutions to four key societal needs: sustainable food production, ecosystem restoration, optimized biofuel production, and improvement in human health. The approach calls for a coordinated effort to leverage resources across the federal, private, and academic sectors to help meet challenges and improve the return on life science research in general.

6/1/09 - UCI awarded a T32 training grant on "Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology" for Ph.D. graduate students from NIH/NIBIB.

11/12/08 - Dr. Qing Nie, Director of CMCB, is featured on Today@Colorado State University for a Distinguished Lecture Series on "Systems Biology: A Frontier of Computational Science."

5/31/08 - CMCB faculty member John Lowengrub received the 2008 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research. Earlier in May, Professor Lowengrub also received the Distinguished Mid-Career Faculty Award for Research.

11/1/07 - The very first UCI symposium on Mathematical Systems Biology was held at Calit2 Building Auditorium at the UC Irvine campus on February 28-29, 2008. The theme was on "Spatial Dynamics of Growth and Signaling".

8/1/07- UCI awarded $14.5 million P50 grant from NIH to support systems biology center. CMCB is a major participant of this program. Click here for UCI press release.

3/1/07 - A new Gateway Ph.D. Program on "Mathematical and Computational Biology" (MCB) was established at UCI.

1/1/07 - UCI received $1M from HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) to create first interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology

5/25/06 -5/27/06 A Conference on "Biology and Mechanics: Applications of Mathematics and Computations" was held at Beckman Center .