Immune Systems Biology

Activities

The research work of the Immune Systems Biology (ISB) group focuses on unravelling how the dynamic molecular networks of immunocytes quantitatively, rather than simply all-or-none, respond to various genetic perturbations/mutations as well as environmental factors including stresses under physiological or pathological conditions.

To this end, the ISB group develops and applies integrated computational and experimental systems biology strategies to predict and delineate the dynamic molecular networks of immunocytes. With expertise in network inference and analysis, we orchestrate major efforts on network-biology-guided experiments in order to accelerate biomedical discoveries.

Research projects

Currently, the ISB group, established as a junior research group in March 2015, develops several research programs as follows:

• Development of network-guided approaches, e.g., the so-called queen-bee-surrounding principle, to predict novel key hub genes and subnetworks for the given physiological function or the pathogeneses of the given diseases and apply to various cellular systems, e.g., as demonstrated in regulatory T cells (Tregs) or effector CD4+ T cells and in neuroimmunology.
• Development of strategies and approaches to infer molecular networks from genome-scale time-series omics data and apply them to various immune systems.
• Investigation of personalized immunology to predict and discover novel molecular and sub-network markers to quantify response efficacy of medication or immunotherapies for each individual.
• Understanding of the convergence and divergence of the underlying molecular networks among various types of immune-related diseases, e.g., various allergic and autoimmune diseases.