Battelle Center for Mathematical Medicine

Center Mission

To apply state-of-the-art quantitative methods to basic and clinical research, in order to better inform and ultimately to improve clinical care in pediatrics.

Background of Mathematical Medicine

Biomedical research is increasingly dependent upon sophisticated mathematical and computational techniques.  The need for quantitative approaches to understanding biomedical data arises in the context of statistical data analysis; construction and evaluation of complex models, for instance, of genetic or molecular mechanism; or simply in the context of accessing and organizing the massive quantities of data available as a result of the human genome project and its many offshoots.  The Research Institute recognized the importance of this area by investing in a new Center of Emphasis, The Center for Quantitative and Computational Biology, in August of 2006.  Then in 2007, The Battelle Memorial Institute made a transformational gift of $5 million to endow the center now known as the Battelle Center for Mathematical Medicine.  The gift also established the Battelle Chair in Quantitative and Computational Biology.

Research Areas of Focus

A primary goal of the Center is to provide a unique environment in which specialists from a variety of mathematical, statistical and computational areas can share their professional "home," in order to facilitate creative collaborative research within the group.  This differs from traditional academic models, in which quantitative specialists are dispersed into separate departments (Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, etc.), with day-to-day interactions across departments usually quite limited.  It also differs from the setting in which most quantitatively-oriented scientists find themselves within biomedical research facilities, where they tend to be isolated from one another by virtue of affiliation with different laboratories.  The melding of diverse quantitative and computational perspectives and technologies together in one Center of Emphasis is designed to provide a springboard for uniquely collaborative work across the quantitative disciplines, for the purposes of developing innovative methodological tools for addressing biological questions.  An example of the success of this approach is the development of our "signature" quasi-Bayesian approach to mapping genes for human diseases, which relies on a close collaboration between the statistical geneticists who develop the models, and the computer scientists who make it possible to compute them.

Another key goal is to engage in collaborative research with investigators from the other research Centers.  It is our active involvement in clinical research that gives our basic research purpose, both shaping it (by showing us where new methods are needed) and giving us an opportunity to make a direct contribution (by applying those methods).  This means that every investigator in the Center is also a key collaborator on research that extends beyond our own walls.