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Clinical Systems Biology

Clinical Systems Biology

 

Gordon Broderick Ph.D. directs the research team at the Rochester General Hospital Center for Clinical Systems Biology. He is a leader in applying network and control theory approaches for identifying complex structure and regulatory dynamics in immune, nervous and endocrine systems for the development of therapeutic strategies.

The CCSB is focused on understanding immune dysfunction and autoimmunity from an integrated systems perspective.

We are investigating how subtle imbalances in the interplay between the immune system’s multiple components and its interactions with the endocrine and nervous systems may lead to complex disorders such as Gulf War Illness (GWI), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Cancer-related Fatigue (CRF), and others.

These illnesses and others like them don’t typically respond to a conventional one-piece-at-a-time approach. By considering the integration of the body’s systems functions (rather than viewing them in isolation), we are working to achieve new insights. We look at the immune, endocrine and nervous systems as part of an overarching, integrated whole. Towards this CCSB brings together intersecting and synergistic research initiatives in:

  • Knowledge acquisition and representation
  • Regulatory dynamics and control theory
  • Network biology and complexity 
  • Behavioral systems biology

This comprehensive approach is at the heart of systems biology: an emerging science where context and interaction are key focal points.