Author: Paul Brazhnik

Headshot of Paul Brazhnik.

Before his retirement in December 2021, Paul oversaw grants in the areas of bioinformatics, computational biology, systems biology, biostatistics and biological network modeling. In addition, he directed the Joint DMS/NIGMS Initiative to Support Research at the Interface of the Biological and Mathematical Sciences.

Posts by Paul Brazhnik

Wanted: Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences Program Directors

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UPDATE: These positions are now closed.

We’re recruiting two accomplished scientists for program officer positions in the Division of Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences. The successful applicants will be responsible for scientific and administrative management of a portfolio of research grants, and will stimulate, plan, advise, direct, and evaluate program activities related to their field of expertise.

The positions are in our Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Branch and Biophysics Branch.

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Wanted: NIGMS Program Directors for BBCB and PPBC

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UPDATE: These positions are now closed.

We’re recruiting two accomplished scientists for positions in our Division of Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences (BBCB) and our Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry (PPBC). The successful applicants will be responsible for scientific and administrative management of a portfolio of research grants, and will stimulate, plan, advise, direct, and evaluate program activities related to their field of expertise.

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Wanted: Program Director, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Branch

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UPDATE: This position is now closed.

We’re recruiting for an accomplished scientist with interest and experience in computational biology to join the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB) Branch of the Division of Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences (BBCB). The successful applicant will be responsible for scientific and administrative management of a portfolio of research and training grants.

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Wanted: Program Director, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Branch

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UPDATE: The position is now closed.

We’re recruiting for an accomplished scientist with interest and experience in computational biology to join the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB) Branch of the Division of Biophysics, Biomedical Technology, and Computational Biosciences (BBCB). The successful applicant will be responsible for scientific and administrative management of a portfolio of research and training grants.

The BCB Branch of BBCB supports bioinformatics and computational approaches that join biology with the computer sciences, engineering, mathematics, biostatistics, and physics as well as general approaches that have the potential for broad applicability and use by investigators with support from across NIH and other agencies. The Branch collaborates with other parts of NIH on the Big Data to Knowledge​ and Smart and Connected Health initiatives, and with the National Science Foundation to support a program in mathematical biology.

Continue reading “Wanted: Program Director, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Branch”

Wanted: Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Program Director

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We’re recruiting for a program director (also known as a program officer or health scientist administrator) to manage research grants and other types of awards in our Division of Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology. Candidates should have expertise and research experience in computational biology, bioinformatics, biostatistics and/or data science for biomedical research. We prefer candidates with a broad background in the application of computation for solving biological problems or expertise in two or more of the areas listed above.

Please see the vacancy announcement for the position description and requirements and detailed application procedures. The position closes on March 14.

Wanted: NIGMS Program Directors, Scientific Review Officer

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NIGMS is looking for three program directors to manage a variety of research and training grants, and we’re also recruiting a scientific review officer to handle the peer review of grant applications.

The Division of Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology has vacancies in both of its branches: Biomedical Technology (BT) and Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BCB). Candidates for the BT position should have experience in developing or using advanced technologies for biomedical research in areas such as spectroscopy, microscopy, molecular or biophysical technologies, computational biology or informatics. For BCB, we’re seeking someone with expertise in computational biology, bioinformatics, biostatistics, health informatics and data science for biomedical research. We prefer candidates with a broad background in the application of computation for solving biological problems or expertise in two or more of the areas listed above.

The Division of Training, Workforce Development, and Diversity has a program director vacancy in its Postdoctoral Training Branch. Candidates should have knowledge of and/or experience in understanding, planning and managing research/student research development program(s) at the postdoctoral or early stage investigator career level, including those targeted to groups that are underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral sciences. Candidates also should have expertise in innovations for teaching in STEM fields as well as research experience in other scientific areas within the NIGMS mission.

Finally, we are seeking a scientific review officer to oversee the peer review of applications for a broad range of research and training programs, including programs aimed at capacity building and at increasing the diversity of the scientific workforce. We particularly seek someone with expertise in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, computational biology, genetics and/or the pharmacological sciences to join our interactive scientific review team, although the position involves setting up and managing review groups across the range of biomedical and behavioral fields that NIGMS supports.

For all positions, candidates should have leadership, managerial, organizational, and strong oral and written communication skills. Familiarity with NIH extramural funding as a grant applicant, reviewer or NIH scientific administrator is a plus.

The vacancy announcements for these positions close on Monday, September 29. Please see the NIH HSA Web site for position requirements and application procedures. The Applying for Scientific Administration Jobs at NIGMS and Scientific Careers in the Federal Government blog posts offer additional background and tips.

Meeting to Highlight NIGMS-Funded Systems Biology Program

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National Centers for Systems Biology Portal - Find updates, news stories, training opportunities and moreFor 10 years, our National Centers for Systems Biology (NCSB) program has enabled pioneering research, research training, education and outreach programs focused on systems-level inquiries of biomedical phenomena within the NIGMS mission.

Currently, the program funds 15 centers that are focused on molecular and cellular biology, genetics, pharmacology and physiology. The centers have advanced research in these scientific areas and have significantly contributed to the development of systems biology courses, graduate programs and departments at institutions across the nation, supporting and further building research teams that integrate expertise across traditional disciplinary boundaries.

To mark the program’s anniversary, we are hosting a special annual centers meeting to inform the broader scientific community about the status and achievements of the program. In addition to presentations highlighting each center’s activities, the agenda includes a plenary talk by Arthur Lander of the University of California, Irvine, titled “Lighting the Way: Ten Years of National Centers for Systems Biology,” and presentations by young scientists whose careers have been impacted by the program.

The meeting will be held on July 11-12 in the Natcher Conference Center on the NIH campus. You can now register to attend and see who is participating (no longer available).

Here are a few examples of how the research being conducted by the NIGMS-funded systems biology centers is advancing our knowledge in a broad range of scientific areas:

  • The Virtual Physiological Rat Project  Link to external web site at the Medical College of Wisconsin used data analysis and computational modeling to show that arterial stiffening alone best explains the development of hypertension in aging individuals; the methodology can serve as a model for studying the basis of other diseases.
  • The Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology at the University of California, San Francisco, has created minimal circuits that can reprogram the self-organization of structures within the cell, offering a potential method for engineering cells to carry out specific therapeutic functions.
  • Using dynamical modeling, the San Diego Center for Systems Biology at the University of California, San Diego, has helped explain how quantitative differences in epigenetic steady states may result in qualitatively different cell-type-specific control of signaling.
  • The Center for Complex Biological Systems at the University of California, Irvine, has provided novel insights into the strategies underlying robust pattern formation in biological systems.
  • The Center for Modular Biology at Harvard University has explored whether networks of interacting components, or modules, are pervasive building blocks in biological systems, and how the existence of these building blocks restrains or enhances the generation of diversity.
  • The Center for Systems Biology  Link to external web site at the Institute for Systems Biology is seeking out how dynamic molecular networks of cells process inputs from their environment to mount appropriate responses, such as metabolic, morphological and phenotypic changes.
  • The Center for Genome Dynamics  Link to external web site at the Jackson Laboratory has developed and commercialized two highly sought-after genotyping platforms that are useful in mouse research.

For more highlights, including a recent award from Science magazine for an online computational biology course from the Center for Genome Dynamics, see the NCSB news page. An array of databases, software and other resources, including training materials, developed by the centers are available for use through the NCSB portal (no longer available).

Funding Opportunity for Joint NSF/NIGMS Biological and Mathematical Sciences Program

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NIGMS recently announced plans to continue participating in the Joint DMS/NIGMS Initiative to Support Research at the Interface of the Biological and Mathematical Sciences. The NSF solicitation Link to external web site includes more information about applying.

This joint NSF/NIGMS program started in 2002 to address the pressing need to bring mathematicians into the core of biological research and to encourage broader use of innovative mathematics in understanding life processes. Since then, NIGMS has funded 90 projects involving more than 150 investigators. This year’s awards included nine grants to support mathematics-driven research in biomolecular interactions, signaling and regulatory pathway dynamics, cell proliferation and stress response and branched morphogenesis.

Applications for the program are accepted once a year. The 2010 deadline is October 1. A joint NSF/NIGMS panel reviews the applications, and a group of NSF and NIGMS program directors selects ones for funding. The typical funding level for a 4-year grant is between $1.2 million and $1.6 million (total costs for all years).

In April of this year, NSF and NIGMS sponsored the Frontiers in Mathematical Biology meeting, which brought together scientists supported by the program. See my May 5 post for more about this meeting.

Finding Synergy Between Math and Biology

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Frontiers in Mathematical Biology:
NSF-NIH PIs Meeting 2010 posterLast week, I attended the PI’s meeting for the Joint DMS/NIGMS Initiative to Support Research in the Area of Mathematical Biology, a program managed by us and NSF’s Division of Mathematical Sciences. A key goal of the program is to bring mathematicians and new mathematical approaches into the core of biological and biomedical research.

I was a grantee of this program before I came to NIGMS, so it was interesting to see how the program has evolved and to meet other scientists finding synergy between math and biology.

During the two-day meeting, researchers and students supported by the program shared their experiences, exchanged ideas and explored new collaborations in the field of mathematical biology. Their oral and poster presentations covered a spectrum of topics, from protein and RNA structure prediction to modeling biological complexity and statistical inference. The meeting also featured six brainstorming breakout sessions that helped the program officials identify future opportunities and challenges for the field.

Here are few ideas that caught my attention:

  • Several speakers emphasized that the quest for stimulating the innovative use of mathematics should not undermine the application of well established mathematical approaches in biology.
  • Dynamical systems theory, which describes how complex networks change over time, suggests that the architecture underlying a biological network’s control system may have been evolutionary selected to support the delicate balance between robustness and efficiency.
  • Methods for studying the spread of infectious diseases could also be used to study the spread of emotional states (depression, happiness, etc.).

If you are interested in mathematical biology, visit the meeting Web site—it will be updated soon with the meeting abstracts, slides and photos. If you would like to apply for funding for mathematical biology research, look for an announcement about the program’s next solicitation on the Feedback Loop around the end of July.