Computational & Systems Biology

The computational biologists in our department are concerned with the folding, function, evolution, and design of proteins. They are developing and applying computational methods for prediction of protein structure and function, for mapping evolution of protein sequences and their functions, and for designing proteins with desired structure and function. In collaboration with others, these methods facilitate the study of individual biological systems, drug discovery, pharmacogenomics and pharmaceutical sciences, systems biology, and synthetic biology. Our systems biologists study the mechanisms underlying complex biological processes as integrated systems of many, diverse, interacting components. They combine mathematical modeling and quantitative experiments to elucidate the design principles of complex biological systems and to predict their function and behavior. As such, systems biology has wide applications in the diagnosis and treatment of complex diseases, the design of new-generation drugs, and in future therapeutics. Our research in these areas includes the:

• Quantitative study and modeling of biomolecular networks
• Design and engineering of new pathways
• Study of the evolution of protein interactions and pathways
• Mathematical and computational analysis of complex biological systems
• Modeling of complex diseases
• Quantitative study of physiological systems
• Systems-level study of drug response, metabolic networks, and synthetic biology.

	Patricia Babbitt, PhD Professor Joint appointment: Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy
	Michael Fischbach, PhD Assistant Professor
	C. Anthony Hunt, PhD Professor
	Ajay Jain, PhD Professor
	Brian Jersky, PhD Adjunct Professor Joint appointment: Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine
	Tanja Kortemme, PhD Assistant Professor
	Andrej Sali, PhD Professor Joint appointment: Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy
	Chao Tang, PhD Professor Joint appointment: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Medicine

Name	Title	Joint Appointments
Patricia Babbitt, PhD	Professor	Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy				X	X
Michael Fischbach, PhD	Assistant Professor					X	X
C. Anthony Hunt, PhD	Professor		X			X	X
Ajay Jain, PhD	Professor					X
Brian Jersky, PhD	Adjunct Professor	Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine				X
Tanja Kortemme, PhD	Assistant Professor					X	X
Andrej Sali, PhD	Professor	Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy				X
Chao Tang, PhD	Professor	Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, School of Medicine				X

Image credit: all images © majedphoto.com, servers-and-mathematics composite: UC Regents. Some faculty member photos: UCSF School of Pharmacy faculty members.