PROJECT SUMMARY This proposal seeks support for the conference on Network Biology, to take place March/April 2021 to 2025, at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL). This meeting, held in biannual rotation on the CSHL campus in New York, brings together senior and junior scientists from both experimental and computational laboratories with common interests in network biology. The meeting will emphasize new discoveries and provide an open forum for the presentation of the latest research and results on molecular networks and their relevance to normal and abnormal cellular physiology. It will be essential for advancing knowledge in all aspects of the network modeling process, from data generation in experimental cell biology to data analysis and computer simulation and from the development and validation of network models describing these data to biological inferences made from the models. The conference will include platform sessions on interaction networks, signaling and network dynamics, regulatory networks, computational tools, artificial intelligence and big data, multi-scale networks, networks and disease, networks in differentiation, microbiome networks, network evolution, synthetic networks, network engineering and networks beyond biology though the exact program for the meeting will be assembled after the abstract submission deadline in February 2021 and adapted to ongoing developments in the field in subsequent years. This conference will include significant components designed to facilitate the active participation of younger scientists such as selection of platform speakers on the basis of the scientific merit of their submitted abstracts as well as poster presentations, round tables, lightning talks and poster prizes. Distinguished speakers will also be invited to give platform talks and interact with more junior scientists. The intimate environment at CSHL fosters social interactions and active participation by all. The majority of participants to the previous CSHL Network Biology meeting expressed that they were “very satisfied”. Speakers' panels have consisted of at least 50% women; the gender balance will be maintained in future meetings. In the 2019 iteration of the meeting, a panel discussion was established to address the challenges of Women in Network Science. We will continue to address big community challenges though panel discussions in this meeting. In 2021, we will discuss Applicability and Translatability of Network Biology with panelists including network biologists whose work is deeply influential throughout the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.

PROJECT NARRATIVE Biological systems are functionally and structurally formed by complex networks of interacting molecular components, many of which are encoded in the genome. Elucidating the structure and function of these networks and understanding how their dysregulation causes disease are critical steps toward improving human health. This application seeks support for the conference on Network Biology to be held every two years in March/April 2021-25 at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, to bring together experimental and computational biologists and discuss emerging trends and latest results in the field.