Home | Columbia University Department of Systems Biology

Research
The Columbia University Department of Systems Biology brings together researchers specializing in computational biology, experimental biology, and technology development to discover how biological traits emerge from complex molecular networks.
Education
Systems biology and computational biology are becoming increasingly important disciplines in the biological sciences. Through PhD graduate education and postdoctoral training we prepare young scientists to become leaders in this exciting and rapidly growing field.
- Graduate Education
- Postdoctoral Training
Infrastructure
Our core facilities include centers for next-generation sequencing and high-throughput screening, as well as a high-performance computing center dedicated to research in molecular and systems biology.
- Columbia Genome Center
- Advanced Research Computing

News

Research News

Novel Method Identifies New Risk Genes for Developmental Disorders

The genetics of developmental disorders, such as congenital heart disease and autism, are highly complex. There are roughly 500 to 1,000 risk genes that can lead to each of these diseases, and to date, only about a few dozen have been identified. Focusing on haploinsufficiency, a key biological mechanism of genetic risk in developmental disorders, Dr. Yufeng Shen has developed a computational method that enables researchers to find new risk genes in these diseases.

Awards and Grants

Columbia Team Awarded New Prostate Cancer Grant for Innovative Precision Cancer Research

The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) has announced more than $5.5 million in research funding to six new 2018 PCF Challenge Award teams, including an interdisciplinary team at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The Columbia team includes Systems Biology faculty Drs. Michael Shen, Andrea Califano and Cory Abate-Shen, with several leading investigators from the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Spotlighting Interdisciplinary Research and Young Investigators

Innovative research projects were highlighted at the Department of Systems Biology’s annual retreat at Wave Hill Public Garden and Cultural Center. The retreat, attended by 160 guests, also provided an opportunity for young investigators to showcase their work during a poster competition. Congratulations goes out to this year's research poster winners: Andy Chiang (Vitkup Lab), Huijuan Feng (Zhang Lab) and Hanna Levitin (Sims Lab).

Dr. Andrea Califano Elected to the National Academy of Medicine

Congratulations to Department Chair Dr. Andrea Califano for his election today in the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in health and medicine. A pioneer in systems biology, Dr. Califano has directed the conversation about cancer research away from focusing solely on gene mutations, and examines the complex and tumor-specific molecular interaction networks that determine cancer cell behavior.

Profile

Q+A with Dr. Laura Landweber

Laura Landweber, PhD, loves a challenge. So it’s no surprise that she has built a scientific career unraveling the hows and whys of a unique single-cell organism known for its biological complexity. Oxytricha trifallax is a microbial organism that is prevalent in ponds, feeds on algae and has a highly complex genome architecture, making it an attractive, albeit challenging, model organism to study. Several of the basic biology discoveries made in Oxytricha have been shown to extend to other organisms.