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For immediate release
April 1, 2006
Systems Biology Summit held in Richmond
Richmond, Va. – Top researchers and government officials from around the nation gathered recently at the Jefferson Hotel in downtown Richmond, Va. to discuss the future of medical research during the first Summit on Systems Biology.
“The importance of systems biology continues to escalate as the industry’s federal agencies redirect funding policies,” commented Robert T. Skunda, president and CEO of the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park. “Hosting an event of this level in Richmond lends credibility to our local industry and shows that we are not only on the cutting edge of science, but helping to positively impact the future of biomedical research.”
The Summit, which was co-hosted by the Park and Virginia Commonwealth University, was an exclusive event that attracted more than 150 of the industry’s most influential researchers and policy makers. The goal was to discuss the “systems biology approach” and how it will affect the future of medical research and relevant diagnostic tools and treatments.
Over the past 10 years, systems biology has become a major focus of research laboratories in both academia and industry. It is the study of an organism, viewed as an “integrated” and “interacting network” of genes, proteins and biochemical reactions instead of a system of individual components. Since interactions between parts of a system create important functions we would not expect from looking at the individual parts, understanding the interplay of components is crucial to developing a true understanding of an organism and, subsequently, an understanding of human health and disease.
“There are numbers of exciting and profound issues that are actively being investigated, such as robustness of biological systems, network structures and dynamics, and applications to drug discovery,” said Joseph Loscalzo, M.D., Ph.D., Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and editor-in-chief of Circulation, during his keynote speech. “Systems biology is in its infancy, but holds great promise as the major disciplinary approach to biological and medical sciences in this century.”
The agenda, which included three main educational blocks, was led by speakers such as Terence Ryan, Ph.D, director of integrative biology at GlaxoSmithKline; Scott Patterson, Ph.D., senior director of medical sciences at Amgen, Inc.; and Eric Schadt, Ph.D., senior scientific director of research genetics at Rosetta Inpharmatics, a subsidiary of Merck Research Labs. Academic researchers and government officials also were well-represented and included Nitin Baliga, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, and Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., under secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. U.S. Sen. George Allen (Va.) capped the two-day conference by describing the importance of innovation and maintaining America’s global leadership in the various technology sectors that make up the “systems approach.”
“The quality of the speakers, the five-star venue and the high level attendees all contributed to making this event significant within our field,” commented Jennifer Van Eyck, Ph.D. director of the Johns Hopkins NHLBI Proteomics Center and Summit steering committee member. “By bringing together key people from across the scientific spectra we can begin to influence important policies and effectively guide the future of research and development.”
The second annual Systems Biology Summit is currently being planned for the summer of 2007. It will again take place at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond.
Contact:
Nicky Colomb
Virginia BioTechnology Research Park
Phone: (804) 828-6884
E-mail: ncolomb@vabiotech.com
Web site: www.vabiotech.com
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