Christopher Lynn, Assistant Professor of Physics, has received a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).
Lynn commented, “This MIRA is a wonderful honor from the NIH and also a firm indication that theoretical approaches from physics can have a real impact on human health. This award will provide key resources that will allow our group to explore the ideas that we’re really excited about. This is especially important for early-career researchers like me, who are just getting their groups off the ground. We’re excited to get going!”
Lynn continued with a statement about his research, “Biological functions and structures are inherently emergent, arising from vast networks of interactions at scales below. Clear examples are neural activity and chromatin structure, which, while differing in many respects, both arise from intricate webs of interactions between neurons or genomic loci. In recent years, the study of these and other complex living systems has been revolutionized by experimental advances on unprecedented scales. However, a complete understanding also requires quantitative models that are capable of bridging the gap between large-scale phenomena and fine-scale interactions. The primary roadblock in constructing these methods is the exponential explosion of possible interactions, a problem that becomes even more challenging as experiments grow. This leads to a clear question: Given measurements from large-scale experiments, can we infer the most important interactions within a system?
Combining ideas from information theory, network science, and statistical physics, my research group has recently translated this question into a precise optimization problem. However, solving this problem in large-scale data poses fundamental computational challenges. The central goal of my research group— and the focus of this proposal—is to overcome these challenges by developing scalable methods for inferring the most important interactions within large biological networks. In turn, these methods will yield optimized models for predicting collective functions and structures from the underlying interactions.”
MIRA provides support for research in an investigator’s laboratory that falls within the mission of NIGMS. The goal of MIRA is to increase the efficiency of NIGMS funding by providing investigators with greater stability and flexibility, thereby enhancing scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs. The program will also help distribute funding more widely among the nation’s highly talented and promising investigators. MIRA grants will generally be for 5 years, for both established investigators/new investigators and early stage investigators. With the publication of PAR-22-180, the program has now expanded to include established investigators who currently hold an NIGMS R01-equivalent grant or who wish to renew a MIRA, as well as new investigators who are not serving as a subproject leader on any multicomponent awards and propose research in the NIGMS mission.