Matthew Berginski

Matthew is a research scientist at the University of North Carolina in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Pharmacology. He works as a bioinformatics specialist focusing on organizing and analyzing data related to the dark kinases.

Nienke Moret

Nienke is a PhD candidate in Harvard's Chemical Biology program and the Therapeutics Graduate Program of Harvard's Initiative in Therapeutic Sciences. She works in the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, mentored primarily by Peter Sorger, where she studies functional polypharmacology -- the phenomenon that small molecule drugs derive efficacy from targeting multiple proteins.

Changchang Liu

Changchang is a PhD candidate in Harvard's Chemical Biology department. She works in Peter Sorger's lab, part of the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology. Her project focuses on predicting binding affinities between small molecules and kinases using machine learning methods.

Peter Sorger

Peter’s research focuses on the systems biology of signal transduction networks controlling cell proliferation and death, the dysregulation of these networks in cancer and inflammatory diseases and the mechanisms of action of therapeutic drugs targeting signaling proteins. His group uses mathematical and experimental approaches to construct and test computational models of signaling in human and murine cells as a means to understand and eventually predict the responses of cells and tumors to drugs applied individually and in combination. The Sorger group also develops open-source software for analyzing biological networks and it participates in multiple collaborative programs working to improve data reproducibility.

As founding head of the Harvard Program in Therapeutic Sciences (HiTS), Peter leads a university-wide effort to advance the basic and translational science used to develop new medicines, identify responsive patients and evaluate new drugs via precision clinical trials. He also directs the primary research program in HiTS, the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, which joins together faculty members from six institutions in a multi-disciplinary effort to develop and apply new concepts in drug discovery. Peter was co-founder of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and Glencoe Software and is an adviser to multiple public and private companies and research institutes in the US, Europe and Japan.

Shawn Gomez

Shawn’s research is in the area of systems biology, with a particular emphasis on understanding the architecture and dynamics of gene-regulatory and signal transduction networks. With an emphasis on the protein kinome in cancer and infectious disease, a significant portion of the lab’s work centers on the analysis and modeling of biomolecular systems at multiple scales - spanning statistical and machine learning techniques to more classical systems modeling approaches. This work is paired with experimental efforts that focus on improving our understanding of network- and systems-level principles of cellular behavior.

As Director of the FastTraCS program, Shawn further leads a multidisciplinary effort to more rapidly translate basic science research into tangible solutions that improve patient outcomes. A component of UNC’s NCTraCS Institute and funded as part of UNC’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Award (CTSA) through NCATS, FastTraCS efforts span the range of drug, device and diagnostics development, with a strong focus on the identification of high potential unmet clinical needs and emerging healthcare opportunities within the UNC Healthcare System. The program has a strong focus on derisking technologies for commercial development through internal rapid prototyping and development or in collaboration with academic and industry partners.