http://ias.newmexicoconsortium.org Mathematical biology seeks to establish a deep theoretical understanding, detailed modeling, and quantitative experimentation directed at understanding the behavior of particular regulatory systems and/or elucidating general principles of cellular information processing. Within molecular systems, our most most significant investments have been the q-bio summer school and conference. Additionally, we supported a world recognized HIV conference in Santa Fe. The vision workshop, held in Santa Fe in May, has been a primary vehicle for establishing collaborations with out-of-state researchers in the field. In computational neuroscience, we funded a mentoring program for students and a workshop. These events put New Mexico on the international map as a recognized leader in quantitative biology and mathematical biology. daily 1 2008-08-24T13:04:13Z http://ias.newmexicoconsortium.org/news2/hiv-dynamics-evolution-2008 This conference facilitated communication of the most recent results relating to HIV dynamics and pathogenesis, HIV evolution and phylogenetics, immune responses, T cell dynamics and viral escape. The conference also provided a forum for debate and discussion of alternative hypotheses in these areas. A key objective was the integration of new bio-mathematical approaches into research in HIV pathogenesis and vaccine development. Bio-mathematical studies contribute not only to the understanding of the relationships between viruses, but the understanding of selection and viral interplay with the immune system, factors that have bearing on host-pathogen interactions, issues in pathogen forensics and molecular epidemiology and vaccine development. No publisher manager mathematical biology 2008-10-23T16:52:07Z News Item http://ias.newmexicoconsortium.org/news2/2008-q-bio-summer-school-on-cellular-information The 2008 q-bio Summer School on Cellular Information Processing seeks to advance predictive modeling of cellular regulatory systems. Participants in the School included 21 undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers from 19 different research institutions, such as Cornell University, Columbia University and MIT. Lecturers in the Summer School included 19 Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) researchers, five of whom are Laboratory Fellows (Hans Frauenfelder, James P. Freyer, Byron Goldstein, Alan S. Perelson, and Arthur F. Voter), two University of New Mexico faculty members (Professors Nitant Kenkre and Bridget Wilson), and seven external lecturers. No publisher manager mathematical biology 2008-11-05T18:29:18Z News Item http://ias.newmexicoconsortium.org/news2/2008-q-bio-conference The annual q-bio conference advances predictive modeling of cellular regulation, decision making, formation of response, and other information processing phenomena. The emphasis is on deep theoretical understanding, detailed modeling, and quantitative experimentation directed at understanding the behavior of particular regulatory systems and/or elucidating general principles of cellular information processing. Unlike many biological conferences, which focus on specific model systems, q-bio focuses on understanding of phenomena, which manifest themselves in many biological systems. No publisher manager mathematical biology radiochemistry and nuke 2008-10-23T14:57:13Z News Item http://ias.newmexicoconsortium.org/news2/undergraduate-education-at-the-interface-of This program seeks to investigate educational models and strategies that will inform national efforts to enhance undergraduate education and training at the intersection of mathematics and biology. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and New Mexico State University (NMSU) have partnered to provide intensive, multidisciplinary mentored research experiences for undergraduates supported by relevant coursework. To date, they have recruited three students for research stipends: Ryan Hatch, Tori Barron, and Jesus Perez and they are developing a new course that will be offered next spring entitled, Introduction to Mathematical Biology. This program continues in FY ’09. No publisher manager mathematical biology 2008-10-23T17:11:27Z News Item http://ias.newmexicoconsortium.org/news2/computational-neuroscience-mentoring After decades of exponential growth in power, existing computer architectures still fail to match the ability of the mammalian brain to interpret, respond to, and learn from natural sensory inputs. Rapid progress in neuroscience suggests an alternative strategy for achieving brain-like behavior: identifying the computational primitives that underlie the processing in biological neural circuits. The New Mexico Consortium supports a National Science Foundation (NSF) research program to develop high-performance neural simulation tools and to use them to find these primitives. The primitives make the brain much more powerful than the familiar von Neumann computer or artificial neural networks (ANNs). The IAS supported Garrett Kenyon to mentor five students in this program for the summer. No publisher manager mathematical biology 2008-10-23T17:33:45Z News Item http://ias.newmexicoconsortium.org/news2/center-at-the-interface-of-mathematics-and-biology The IAS supported a statewide response to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center at the Interface of Mathematics and Biology at the New Mexico Consortium. The proposed q-Bio center would create a mathematical foundation for a quantitative, mechanism-based predictive modeling of biological processes focusing on infectious diseases. This five-year, $16M proposal to the NSF attracted ~$5M in matching funds and involved over 20 scientists from across the state. The proposal made it to the final round, but was ultimately not selected. The effort, however, is a model for statewide partnering on proposal response, which is a priority for the IAS. The Center would have brought to the state a new scientific initiative that would not have been possible without the involvement of all IAS partners. No publisher manager mathematical biology 2008-11-05T18:58:10Z News Item http://ias.newmexicoconsortium.org/news2/high-level-perception-and-low-level-vision The "semantic gap" describes the current inability of computer vision systems to connect low-level visual descriptions with the high-level conceptual schemas and analogies. Similarly, neuroscientists and psychophysicists have uncovered many of the physiological and perceptual mechanisms underlying various stages of visual processing. Yet the interactions and transformations between levels remains obscure. The purpose of this workshop was to address how the semantic gap might be bridged, both in natural and computer vision, and to see if a set of common principles of visual understanding can be discovered from the collective, multidisciplinary knowledge of the participants. No publisher manager mathematical biology 2008-10-23T18:02:54Z News Item