The challenge in modern biology is to decipher complex biological systems and networks, for they encode some of the most interesting aspects of the biology of higher organisms. We are studying the development of the immune system through the analysis of hematopoietic stem cells. We are also using genetic mapping and transgenic animals to analyze genes contributing to autoimmune diseases.
Vertebrate development poses challenging problems in systems analysis.
We are studying the developmentally important Notch receptors and their Jagged ligands to decipher the roles they play in hematopoietic and other types of development. Cancer biology is yet another fascinating systems problem. We are using genome-wide genetic mapping and the DNA array technologies to stratify prostate and ovarian cancers, that is, to divide them into their various types. These studies are moving us toward an exciting systems view of cancer with striking new experimental opportunities. We are also developing new informatics tools to acquire, store, model, analyze and distribute biological information.