The Status and Future of Integrative and Organ Systems
SciencesOctober 20 – 21, 2002
Bethesda, MD
Sponsored by: APS and ASPET
Co-sponsors: Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Merck Research Laboratories
Astra Zeneca
Life Sciences Research Office(LSRO)
Michael Falk
Executive Director
Mission
To benefit society by evaluating biological information and scientific opinion for the public and private sectors
Steering Committee• James R. Bloedel
• Joseph R. Haywood
• D. Euan MacIntyre
• Peter C. Preusch
• James H. Woods
• Edward J. Zambraski
Alternate Terms• Integrative
• Systems Biology
• Organ Systems
• Translational
• Pre-clinical
• In vivo
Definitions
• Reductionist approaches are aimed at identifying molecular and cellular events, studied in purified form or in isolated systems and including genomics, proteomics, biochemistry and cell biology.
• Integrative and Organ Systems approaches are aimed at understanding how intact biological systems function at the level of whole animals, organs and organ systems (but not in the clinic).
Challenge
• Is this a real phenomenon or just perceptual?
• What data can we use to define the problem?
• Why is it happening?
• Can the causes by enumerated and assessed?