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                       BIOINFORMATICS COLLOQUIUM
                    School of Computational Sciences
                        George Mason University
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            Computation Models of Host-Pathogen Interactions
                 A Case Study:  Inhalation Anthrax

                           Dr. Stephen Prior
                   Potomac Institute for Policy Studies
                             Arlington, VA

                            Kenneth De Jong
            Computer Science Department and Krasnow Institute
                       George Mason University


                       Tuesday, March 21, 2006
                               4:30 pm
               Verizon Auditorium, Prince William Campus

ABSTRACT
Recent events have dramatically highlighted the need for a better 
understanding of the effects of biological pathogens on humans, both 
from the perspective of prevention (e.g., vaccines) and post-exposure 
interventions.  Most of our current understanding comes from a large 
body of research involving in vitro lab experiments and in vivo animal 
studies.  The result is a fairly sizable gap in our understanding of 
how this research transfers to human subjects.  One approach to 
reducing this gap involves performing in silico studies in which 
computer models are developed to capture the critical host-pathogen 
interactions in a way that they account for existing data and can be 
used to generate hypotheses regarding new approaches to prevention and 
intervention.
       In this talk we present the results of a recent study that 
explored this approach for the specific case of inhalation anthrax, 
motivated in part by the episode in 2001 involving D.C. area mail 
carriers and the threat of similar events in the future.  The key 
element of our approach was the use of agent-based modeling technology 
that allowed the macro properties of host-pathogen interactions emerge 
from a large number of micro level host-pathogen interactions.  This 
“bottom-up” approach to modeling a complex system allowed us to 
construct models rather quickly that were consonant with known data, 
and allowed us to begin experimenting with “what if” scenarios relating 
to prevention and intervention.
       We conclude the talk with a brief discussion of lessons learned 
and how this same approach can be usefully applied to other important 
pathogens such as influenza viruses.


BIOSKETCH
Stephen Prior has spent the last 15 years working in the commercial 
biotechnology sector and has proven skills in the identification & 
appraisal of technology, project management & business development 
including focused growth of biotechnology and pharmaceutical projects 
from initial research to licensed products. Currently, Dr. Prior is the 
Research Director of the National Security Health Policy Center (NSHPC) 
at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Prior to joining NSHPC, he 
served as the President and CEO of DynPort, LLC. He is currently a 
faculty member at the University of North Texas and a member of the 
Institute for Cancer Research. He has also served as a Senior Editor 
for Applied Science Journal (NBC-Medicine); a Visiting Professor Royal 
Military College of Science (UK); Visiting Lecturer DNBCC and Royal 
Army Medical Corps (UK MoD); and a Visiting Lecturer with NATO (Panel 
7-NBC; NATO-ARW).

Kenneth A. De Jong received his Ph.D. in computer science from the 
University of Michigan in 1975. He joined George Mason University in 
1984 and is currently a Professor of Computer Science, head of the 
Evolutionary Computation Laboratory, and associate director of the 
Krasnow Institute. His research interests include genetic algorithms, 
evolutionary computation, machine learning, and adaptive systems. He is 
currently involved in research projects involving the development of 
new evolutionary algorithm (EA) theory, the use of EAs as heuristics 
for NP-hard problems, and the application of EAs to the problem of 
learning task programs in domains such as robotics, diagnostics, 
navigation and game playing. He is also interested in experience-based 
learning in which systems must improve their performance while actually 
performing the desired tasks in environments not directly their control 
or the control of a benevolent teacher. Support for these projects is 
provided by DARPA, ONR, and NRL. He is an active member of the 
Evolutionary Computation research community and has been involved in 
organizing many of the workshops and conferences in this area. He is 
the founding editor-in-chief of the journal Evolutionary Computation 
(MIT Press), and a member of the board of ACM SIGEVO.

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Refreshments are served at 4:00 pm. Find the schedule and directions at
http://www.binf.gmu.edu/colloq.html