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SUMMARY:A robustness-based approach to systems-oriented drug design - Hiro
 aki Kitano\, Sony Computer Science Laboratories
DTSTART:20080424T130000Z
DTEND:20080424T140000Z
UID:TALK10652@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Fabien Petitcolas
DESCRIPTION:*Abstract*: Many potential drugs that specifically target a pa
 rticular protein considered to underlie a given disease have been found to
  be less effective than hoped\, or to cause significant side effects. The 
 intrinsic robustness of living systems against various perturbations is a 
 key factor that prevents such compounds from being successful. By studying
  complex network systems and reformulating control and communication theor
 ies that are well established in engineering\, a theoretical foundation fo
 r a systems-oriented approach to more effectively control the robustness o
 f living systems\, particularly at the cellular level\, could be developed
 .\n\nHere\, I use examples that are based on existing drugs to illustrate 
 the concept of robustness\, and then discuss how a greater consideration o
 f the importance of robustness could influence the design of new drugs tha
 t will be intended to control complex systems.\n\n*Biography*: Hiroaki Kit
 ano is a Director at Sony Computer Science Laboratories\, Inc. and a Proje
 ct Director of Kitano Symbiotic Systems Project\, ERATO-SORST\, Japan Scie
 nce and Technology Agency.  He is also a President of The Systems Biology 
 Institute\, a visiting professor of the University of Tokyo and Keio Unive
 rsity\, and a Founding President of The RoboCup Federation.  He received a
  B.A. in physics from the International Christian University\, Tokyo\, and
  a Ph.D. in computer science from Kyoto University.  Since 1988\, he has b
 een a visiting researcher at the Center for Machine Translation at Carnegi
 e Mellon University.  Kitano received The Computers and Thought Award from
  the International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence in 1993\, 
 Prix Ars Electronica 2000\, Japan Design Culture Award 2001\, and Good Des
 ign Award 2001\, as well as being an invited artist for Biennale di Venezi
 a 2000 and Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York in 2001.  His research int
 erests include AI\, Robotics\, and Systems Biology.
LOCATION:Microsoft Research Ltd\, 7 J J Thomson Avenue (Off Madingley Road
 )\, Cambridge
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