UCSF Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology
University of California, San Francisco, California
The UCSF Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology is combining the approaches for forward and reverse biological engineering to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms by which cellular networks solve physiological problems in signal processing and regulation. We are mapping complex regulatory networks involved in cell signaling and metabolic regulation; comparing these networks across species; computationally mapping the relationship between network architecture and function; and building and exploring combinatorial network libraries for diverse modular functions.
The UCSF Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology was funded in Oct. 2010 as part of the NIGMS program for national centers for systems biology. This center serves as a nucleus at UCSF for interdisciplinary and quantiative explorations into how biological systems function. The center also serves as one node within a network of national systems biology centers.
Research Topics Currently Explored at the CSSB
- Building synthetic circuits
- Complex regulatory networks
- Design principles underlying biological functions
- Regulatory network breakdown and disease
- Signaling proteins and network evolution
- Variation in circuit structure/function relationships across species
Contact for general information:
Connie M. Lee, Associate Director
Funding opportunities:
Within the Center:
The Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology at UCSF invites applications for Systems Biology Fellows. We seek exceptionally creative and independent individuals with backgrounds in engineering, physics, mathematics and computer science, who are dedicated to applying quantitative approaches to the study of complex biological systems. Fellows will be free to pursue their own research interests and/or to collaborate with any members of the Center and the UCSF faculty. The focus of the Fellows positions is primarily on creative computational and theoretical approaches to biological problems. Nonetheless, fellows will be immersed in outstanding experimental environments, presented with the opportunity to work in wet labs through collaboration, in addition to having access to UCSF’s world-class shared experimental facilities. Appointments are for three years, with competitive salary and research support.
Relevant degree-granting programs:
Two programs within UCSF train graduate students in systems and synthetic biology.
The Integrative Program in Quantitative Biology establishes an innovative common core curriculum drawn from the separate tracks in Biophysics, Bioinformatics, and Complex Biological Systems.
The Tetrad program includes the biochemistry and molecular biology, cell biology, genetics and developmental biology programs.