Modeling Core

Many of the outstanding problems in human health are unsolved because they involve complex processes. Despite remarkable advances in technology, the solutions will not be found by data alone. To seek solutions, we built a core centered on modeling. A good model provides insight into how a process works and, more importantly, how the process can be manipulated to promote human health. Modeling can serve as a common language to link disparate research areas; it improves research at every stage, from hypothesis formulation through analysis. Ultimately, modeling creates a positive feedback loop with empirical approaches, deepening scientific exploration and discovery. We established the Modeling Core consisting of a group of collaborative postdocs with diverse modeling expertise. Our Core is unique. In contrast to many other centers that focus on a single biomedical problem, we apply modeling to a wide range of biomedical problems and, for each of these, can bring multiple types of modeling to bear. Our Core is agile. We can modify our expertise based on the needs of the Center and of the community. Our Core is catalytic. We have shaped interdisciplinary research in tangible ways: by providing modeling expertise to empiricists, growing areas of modeling with high impact, and increasing the number of collaborative proposals and publications. Building on this upward trajectory, we seek to catalyze and support modeling-based biomedical research across the university and the state via three Specific Aims. (1) Support biomedical research at the University of Idaho by engaging in integrative modeling. We will achieve this by providing researchers with access to postdoc modeling expertise. (2) Expand the Modeling Core expertise into emerging research directions. We will anticipate and respond to the modeling needs of the research community. This will be accomplished by hiring Core postdocs in new areas of modeling, by providing Core postdocs with professional development opportunities, and by establishing Core Initiatives such as digital twins. (3) Position the Modeling Core for long-term sustainability. We have multiple strategies for this aim including sharing postdocs with other grants and converting the Modeling Core into a university service center that charges researchers for postdoc effort. Completion of these aims will lead to a stronger Core that supports modeling efforts in the Center and the university community, improving current and future biomedical research in Idaho.