A New Vocabulary
More than ever, scientists and engineers are reaching across their respective disciplines to decode the mysteries of human biology, unravel complex genetic relationships, capture and scrutinize millions of bits of data and formulate new strategies against diseases that affect children. This is molecular biology meets advanced mathematics, made possible by accelerating developments in computers and sophisticated methodologies of biomedical data collection and analysis.

Developmental biologists, oncologists, cardiologists, pulmonologists, engineers and bioinformatics experts are learning to speak each other’s languages and — in the course of working together on mighty problems that affect children and adults — creating a new, shared vocabulary.

Nowhere is this conversation more spirited than between the investigators of The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and their engineering colleagues at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.

Together, these interdisciplinary thinkers are trying to find answers for such diseases as cancer, inherited blood diseases, respiratory and intestinal disorders, cardiovascular disease, autism and other cognitive issues — as they set the stage for a future of personalized medicine.