The NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology is composed of investigators at the forefront of innovative research at the interface of mathematics and biology. Each member of the NSF-Simons NITMB brings a unique perspective that is vital for achieving the NITMB’s mission to develop new mathematics and inspire biological discovery. In order to highlight the diversity of expertise present, and the valuable contributions of NITMB members, the NITMB will be sharing insight into one of our members every month.
Oni Basu is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago. The Basu Lab is an interdisciplinary research group that combines expertise from physics, genomics, molecular biology and materials science to study complex biological systems with single cell resolution, at very high throughput, and in context of their native environments.
We spoke with Oni Basu to learn more about her work studying complexity, and the possibilities the NITMB and new developments in mathematics are unlocking for Basu’s research.
What is your current research area?
“I have always been fascinated with complexity. In physics we tend to simplify things to a few equations, but oftentimes in biology there are many variables like environmental factors and stressors in the system. And the system's can change at the drop of a hat. I find that refreshing. I also have always found that heterogeneity in these complex systems is intriguing. And here it can also have functional value. I have seen this happen in many diverse situations with no commonality other than that they were very heterogeneous, robust, and complex, which drew me to them. I like studying such systems.”
What disciplines does your research integrate?
“Physics, systems biology, chemistry, material science, and microfluidics and device fabrication. We also use imaging, electron microscopy, and recently spectroscopy.”
Where do you find inspiration?
“I find inspiration from my colleagues, collaborators, and group members. I don’t like working by myself. Interactions make me happy and make my brain work.”
What aspects of your research could be interesting to mathematicians or applied to biology?
“Every aspect of our research is very much driven by mathematics, statistics, and computer science. All the work that we have been doing generate multidimensional data. They require new experimental approaches, and these approaches require new analysis techniques. This is why I was drawn to the NITMB community even before it started. Physics, engineering, and computer science are bread and butter for our lab.”
What about the NITMB do you find exciting?
“I like the NITMB community a lot. I like being a fly on the wall. It inspires me. I go to hear talks at NITMB, and then I find a new problem I wasn’t thinking about before. I go there for inspiration. I have colleagues I can talk to if I need advice on analyzing certain sets of data, but they’re also constantly providing new fodder for me to take on new problems. And I think it’s very good for younger scientists who are growing up in this interdisciplinary setting. NITMB shows me different approaches to solve the same problem. I am drawn to NITMB to see what possibilities are out there to understand my science.”
What career achievement are you most proud of?
“I am very happy about making a shift in research directions. I trained in physics, then fabrication and finally I switched to systems biology. I feel very empowered to have made the switches not only because I have access to new problems that I can solve, but I also have an interdisciplinary background to bring new tools to solve them. I get to think about new problems, learn new biology from my colleagues, and then bring engineering and material science and physics to the mix. I’m very lucky to have come this way.”
Outside of your research, what other interests do you have?
“I like to read. I enjoy virtual reality. One of my wishes is to bring VR into my research to do visualization. It’s very easy for me to get interested in the arts. I enjoy cooking, watching good drama, reading a good book, painting, all of it’s fantastic.”
What are you hoping to work on in the future?
“I am very interested in multimodal research like bringing in multiple different techniques. We do a lot of genomics. I would like to bring together chemical characterization and physical characterization. It’s an emerging, very exciting field right now. Having multimodal data really helps you understand some of the complex problems that I have always been interested in. I work on some complex diseases that absolutely require these technologies. And then I am collaborating, talking to multiple people who are working in machine learning. The problems
have been around, we are just refining our experiments and understanding. That’s very exciting.”
The NITMB is proud to have Oni Basu as a valued member of the Institute. More information on Oni Basu’s research is available on the Basu Lab website. Professor Basu is also open to discussing her work, either in person or virtually, with anyone who wants to talk about science or complexity.