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Jim Rogers, Ph.D. |
Jim Rogers, Ph.D., an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, will describe this role during the monthly Clinical and Translational Research Seminar on Monday at noon in the Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater.
Dr. Rogers — who is both a mathematician and biological scientist — has created a model that shows how cells process information in much the same way brains do.
And like the human brain, Dr. Rogers said, cell information processing systems are incredibly complex. Thus, developing a model that accurately portrays these systems was and is a complex undertaking that requires input from experts on all levels of cell function, Dr. Rogers said.
Designing a system that allowed these experts — who often are not math and computer experts — to input information also required the help of, well, math and computer experts.
Dr. Rogers compared his model to Wikipedia because, like the popular online encyclopedia, it can be added to by anyone who has access to it.
During his seminar, he will discuss the importance of having easy-to-use, open-source models available to scientists who are working to understand complex systems such as cellular information processing.
“To understand systems, we must study every aspect of them and it will take the input of many knowledgeable people to accurately illustrate all these aspects,” Dr. Rogers said. “It also will take the skills of mathematicians and computer scientists to take this data and create models that can portray all this information.”
Dr. Rogers’ presentation is part of the ongoing CTR series that is typically held on the third Monday of each month. The CTR series brings clinical and basic science investigators together to identify new ways to collaborate and answer important clinical questions.
The seminar will be recorded and available for investigators who cannot attend.
It also will be televised at the following sites:
- College of Dentistry in Lincoln, Room 7;
- College of Nursing in Lincoln, Room 307;
- College of Nursing in Scottsbluff, Panhandle Station Room 203;
- College of Nursing in Kearney, CMCT 216; and
- College of Nursing in Omaha, Room 4078.
Click here to see a Web site to see information about this and future CTR seminars.