The Computational Biology Research Group

The graduate program in Computational Biology is an interdisciplinary program...

Faculty research interests:

Dr. Daniel Bunker studies the response of ecosystems, and the services they provide, to global change. Global change poses a strong challenge to ecologists, environmental scientists, and conservation biologists: even as our natural and managed ecosystems become more stressed by the forces of global change, humans require that they produce both a greater quantity and variety of ecosystem services. For instance, we may expect a forested ecosystem to produce timber, provide clean water, sequester carbon, support wildlife, and provide recreational opportunities, yet at the same time the forest community is being buffeted by climate change, invasive species, and land-use change. In order to ensure that our ecosystems provide the services society demands, we must be able to predict how ecological communities will respond to these global forces, and in turn how changes in community composition will affect ecosystem services. To develop this predictive framework, I employ a mix of observation, experimentation, modeling and synthesis, within a diverse array of biological communities.
Dr. Jorge Golowasch studies the cellular mechanisms of long-term plasticity of the electric properties of rhythm-producing neurons. His work examines how these mechanisms enable neurons and small neuronal networks to recover their normal rhythmic activity after big perturbations. Protein expression and function, and their regulation by paracrine agents via intracellular signaling molecular pathways (neuronally and hormonally released small molecules acting on the nervous system), is the central aspect of these studies. Techniques used in these studies include electrophysiology, pharmacology, imaging, molecular biology and computational.	A crab stomatogastric ganlion neuron in dissociated culture is recorded electrophysiologically. Insets: dendritic endings.
Dr. Andrew Hill studies rhythmic patterns of activity in the nervous system. These rhythms are important for essential functions such as breathing, walking, chewing, and cognition. He is interested in the basic cellular and synaptic mechanisms that contribute to the generation of these rhythms as well as how these rhythms are modified in a behaviorally appropriate manner. He is specifically studying the rhythmic neural network in the mammalian brainstem that generates the motor patterns that underlie breathing. The survival of an animal depends on the ability of this respiratory network to respond appropriately to (1) the release of neuromodulators from specific brainstem nuclei and to (2) changes in basic physiological parameters such as CO2 and O2 tension. One project in his lab involves testing the effects of prenatal nicotine on the postnatal development of the brainstem respiratory network. Prenatal nicotine exposure is a serious health problem because it adversely affects important protective reflexes that are mediated by the brainstem respiratory network. He uses electrophysiological, anatomical, pharmacological, and computational methods.	The slice preparation of the mouse brainstem contains the pre-Bötzinger complex (PBC), which generates the basic inspiratory rhythm for respiration. This rhythmic nucleus drives the activity of motor neurons located in the hypoglossal nucleus (XII). One source of modulatory input to the PBC is the raphé obscurus (RO).
Dr. Farzan Nadim studies the cellular and synaptic mechanisms that give rise to oscillatory activity in networks of neurons. His research focuses on the interaction between short-term mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and the nonlinear properties of membrane ion channels in neurons of pattern-generating networks. A particular focus of the research is long-term modifications of intrinsic and synaptic mechanisms by neurally and hormonally released modulators. These neuromodulatory effects can give rise to distinct activity patterns from neurons and result in reconfiguration of networks and behavior.	Confocal reconstruction of the Alexa Fluor 568 dye-fill of a pyloric dilator neuron. Also shown are extracellular (blue) and intracellular recordings of the neuron.
Dr. Gareth Russell studies spatio-temporal dynamics of populations and communities, with an emphasis on endangered species. He is also interested in applying machine vision systems to improve the collection of ecological data.	Black-crowned Night Heron chicks in mulberry bushes on Mill Rock in the East River.