Blood Systems Biology at the University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania was awarded a $2.8 million grant as one of three national centers for Systems Biology by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

The 3-year project will focus on "Blood Systems Biology" and is headed by Dr. Scott L. Diamond of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.   The Cluster Team will deploy integrative and hierarchical computational models and experimental studies to predict spatial-temporal processes in mouse and human blood under hemodynamic conditions. 

An interdisciplinary team of faculty from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences includes Drs. Daniel Hammer (BE), Talid Sinno (CBE) and George Biros (MEAM) along with Drs. Skip Brass and Mark Kahn from the School of Medicine. The team has expertise in experimental and computational hemodynamics, platelet biology, coagulation and protease biochemistry, continuum/stochastic simulation, robotic automation, and knockout mice for thrombosis research. 

Blood is ideal for Systems Biology research since it is easily obtained from donors or patients, amenable to high throughput liquid handling experiments, and clinically relevant. Better elucidation and quantitative simulation of blood reactions and platelet signaling pathways under hemodynamic conditions are directed at clinical needs in thrombosis risk assessment, anti-coagulation therapy, platelet-targeted therapies, and stroke research.