Confronting the Causes of Disease

In the history of science, some of the greatest results have been reached when the best minds from different disciplines have come together to solve a common problem. The Institute for Computational Medicine provides an organized platform for collaborative research, through inter-
disciplinary initiatives aimed at unlocking the causes of today's major diseases. Currently, the ICM is involved in several major collaborative studies with talented researchers in Hopkins' School of Medicine, as well as in special projects within the Institute itself, addressing the following diseases.

Cancer

Today, cancer is recognized as one of the major diseases in the world. But what is not so widely known is that in terms of the numbers of cases, prostate cancer is currently the most prevalent form of the disease in the U.S.

At the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the battle to combat prostate cancer is focusing on the cellular level. At present, Institute researchers are searching for a way to identify the disease's level of intensity, in order to develop better screens for appropriate treatment. The key to finding these tests lies in the complex data sets assembled by the Institute through its own research.

Thanks to the collaborative involvement of the ICM, that search is taking on a new momentum. As one Institute researcher put it, "The ICM provides us with new ways of understanding the data we already have, along with new insights and conclusions." In particular, ICM researchers have developed new computational tools to evaluate the Institute 's data and capture information previously missed. Through superior data analysis, definable "fingerprints" marking the aggressiveness of prostate cancer will be recognized and applied to better diagnosis of this disease.

Epidemiology

While much of the ICM's research focuses on cellular materials, the Institute is also applying its expertise to assessing the very large problems caused by possible pandemics, such as avian flu.

In this study of global epidemiology and the spread of contagious disease, ICM researchers are working together with Hopkins' Bloomberg School for Public Health and its researchers in the Department of International Health - Disease Prevention and Control. Bloomberg researchers
are currently developing computational models of epidemic diseases in order to track their potential spread, based on a variety of changing environmental and human factors.

With their computational skills, ICM researchers are helping to analyze and assemble meaningful data sets, which in turn can reveal emerging patterns about the dynamics of an epidemic disease. By understanding how such a disease might spread under diverse conditions, a more precise strategy to control or reduce its range could be developed.

Genetic Disease

Within the genome of every human being is a code that once unlocked, can reveal why some are at risk for certain diseases and others are not -and more importantly, when they are at risk. At the Johns Hopkins Institute of Genetic Medicine (IGM), medical researchers are seeking to detect the genetic and molecular causes of those common diseases that affect many adults, and what may cause them to be triggered. Specifically, they are focusing on the genetic factors that cause autism and sudden cardiac death.

In supporting this research, the ICM is providing statistical analyses and other computational methodologies to facilitate the interpretation of vast amounts of data gathered by IGM researchers. The goal is to pinpoint specific genes whose interaction can lead to disease. The ICM is also addressing the storage and dissemination of this data by creating an integrated database to organize information at various levels of resolution.

Overall, IGM researchers see great promise in their collaboration with the ICM. As one commented, "Together, we are collaborating with the ICM to really discover and create new methods for studying the genetics of common diseases."

Heart Disease

Proteins are the active, functioning elements of every cell -which is why researchers today are finding that their study (called proteomics) provides a more powerful means for tracking the mechanics of certain diseases.

Partnering with the NHLBI (National Heart Lung Blood Institute) Proteomics Center at Johns Hopkins, ICM researchers are developing a customized software database that will allow that center 's researchers to access and organize their massive proteomic data with greater precision, as well as to extract more specific answers, in the study of various heart diseases. The ICM also is designing computational tools to speed up data analysis. These tools include custom software that will allow the movement of data or database searches, as well as statistical algorithms that first can identify trends in a dataset and then create rankings within that data to pinpoint results more clearly.

Vasculitis

While the name may suggest a single disease, vasculitis refers to several that share a unifying condition: the involvement of inflammation within the blood vessel wall. Different forms of vasculitis attack individual organ systems -very commonly, the lungs and kidneys, the skin, the peripheral nerves, and the eyes -each generating its own set of symptoms and effects, like blindness, kidney failure, or arthritis. As a result, treatments differ from disease to disease.

At The Johns Hopkins Vasculitis Center, scientists are engaged in proteomics studies in attempting to determine the relationship of blood cell proteins to vasculitis-related disease activity. To assist in this search, ICM researchers are applying bioinformatics tools to organize complex research data, and as importantly, to recognize patterns and combinations within the data that could help to define certain disease states.

The long-term goal for the combined team is to identify biomarkers that will provide the diagnostic tools to know when vasculitis is present, and when it is not. Having a clearer knowledge of the disease 's presence will give physicians the ability to suspend aggressive therapies on patients that could otherwise prove traumatic over time.

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