Systems Biology
Nicholas Navin, Ph.D.
Department Chair
Welcome to the MD Anderson Department of Systems Biology!
We are an interdisciplinary department that is pushing the boundaries of cancer research by integrating technology development, bioengineering, data science, and systems biology. We leverage our massive clinical resources and unmatched access to patient tissue samples to study some of the biggest questions in the cancer field, on topics that include premalignant progression, metastatic dissemination, and therapeutic resistance. Our faculty members represent top-notch scientists working in diverse areas of cancer research and commonly use multi-omic approaches to understand the interaction of genotypes and phenotypes at single cell and spatial resolution.
Our department is specially designed to support 'hybrid laboratories' with equal efforts in computational and experimental biology, in a state-of-the-art laboratory and office space on the 10th floor of the new Zayed building. We have a strong emphasis on the development of new technologies to perform single cell multi-omics, spatial genomics, liquid biopsy assays, and CRISPR screens. Our department also houses the Single Cell Genomics Core (SCGC) that provides cutting-edge single cell technologies to the research community. Technology development and application is at the heart of our research activities.
Our department is highly collaborative and strongly encourages team-science and interactions with both our clinical colleagues and basic science departments at MD Anderson. We value the education and training of our graduate students through the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) and the training of our postdoctoral fellows, who play a vital role in our department activities. We value diversity, equity, and inclusion as guiding principles for our department.