NIH Awards

 

NIH Awards Hunter $1.3 Million Grant For Pioneering Project in Quantitative Biology

Hunter has received a five-year $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop its quantitative biology project, an innovative program that will prepare students in biology, chemistry, computer science, and mathematics and statistics to master the advances taking place in 21st-century biomedical science.   Hunter is one of only nine institutions in the country to receive this grant.

Titled “Curricular and Pedagogical Innovations in Quantitative Biology,” the project, which was launched in July and will run through June 2013, will transform the College’s existing science curriculum by introducing innovative teaching methods, bioinformatics concentrations, and focused work in quantitative reasoning and analysis.

Weigang Qiu, assistant professor of biology, is the principal investigator of the project.  Adrienne Alaie, assistant professor of biology, and Virginia Teller, professor of computer science and chair of the Computer Science Department, are co-P.I.s.  Other leading faculty members from anthropology, biology, chemistry, computer science, and mathematics and statistics took part in the development of the project.

Among the benefits that students in the project will enjoy are small classes, individual mentoring, the opportunity to participate in research conducted at Hunter and nationally, and topnotch preparation for graduate studies and scientific/mathematical careers.  Scholarships will also be available for qualified students.

The components of the project include:

·	concentrations in bioinformatics for students majoring in biology, chemistry, computer science, or mathematics and statistics;
·	transformation of the curriculum in science, mathematics, and statistics so that students graduate with knowledge and understanding of the fundamental concepts of bioinformatics and the critical role that bioinformatics plays in biomedical science today;
·	faculty development initiatives such as the introduction of innovative pedagogy and bioinformatics content in 27 courses.

 

The students directly involved in the quantitative biology project are not the only students who will benefit from the project, notes principal investigator Qiu.  Some 6,500 students a year—all students taking courses in the disciplines related to the project—will benefit from the curricular improvements that will arise once the new computational and quantitative biology content is integrated into these courses.