The Computational Clinical Systems Biology Group consists of a group of enthusiastic individuals, David Quesada-Saliba PhD (Director and Computational Biology), Baian Khanjar MS (Data Analysts), Jonathan Herrera (Data Management and data security protocols) who are engaged in providing support for data management, data security protocols, statistical analyses, and mathematical clinical systems modeling aligned with projects of interest for INIM.
Current projects include:
- Long term COVID, longitudinal and phenotyping platforms. The team is assisting to manipulate REDCap data management system, produce reports and do preliminary analyses.
- In-Depth GWI phenotyping study along with Miami VA. Detailed statistical analysis aimed at finding patterns among clinical tests and physical functioning questionnaires. Such patterns will permit improving treatment efforts with GWI veterans.
- BACOPA GWI project. Statistical analysis of the influence of dietary life styles of GWI veterans and evaluate the role of diets on the possibility of symptom’s control of these patients.
- Mathematical modeling of neuroinflammatory processes. A comprehensive mathematical model appealing to systems of ODEs with nonlinear feedback loops and including different systems: HPA and HPG axes, Immune, CNS and BBB, neurotransmitter Acetylcholine, and neuromodulators (BDNF, CD200, VEGF, IGF-1) has been developed. This model will serve as a starting point for representing medical conditions as GWI, ME/CFS, and neurodegenerative diseases.
- Mathematical modeling of the metabolic syndrome and environmental exposure. The model is aimed at capturing the “trigger event” for GWI and also serves as a starting point for the study of the influence of toxicants on the endocrine, immune and CNS systems. It includes the dynamics of toxicants, their lipophilic affinities and the buffer effect of adipose tissue combined with the dynamics of glucose, insulin, fat tissue, inflammatory cytokines, mitochondrial dysfunction, cortisol, leptin, and ghrelin. The model is capable to reproduce the effect of obesogens, the tendency for diabetes type 2, and the influence of dietary patterns of patients with GWI and those exposed to pesticides and fuel exhausts for prolonged periods of times.
- Mathematical modeling of viral reactivation. Several conditions of interest as ME/CFS and Long term COVID are sharing patterns of viral reactivation with lasting effects on the CNS and cardiometabolic systems of the patients. The modeling framework considers different reservoirs where viruses can stay dormant and conditions that might trigger their reactivation.
The group is collaborating with the Department of Biology of the University of Waterloo, in Canada as well as with Miami VA. Additionally, several students are partnering with us and participating in support of the research endeavors.
Recently, the group submitted for publication of the following manuscript: “Kinetic compartmental systemic modeling of neuro-inflammatory conditions under different interventions” David Quesada Saliba and Travis J.A. Craddock. The manuscript is under review in the journal Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal (2025).