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Gábor Balázsi, PhD

Present Title & Affiliation

Primary Appointment

Assistant Professor of Systems Biology, tenure-track, Department of Systems Biology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment

Regular Member of the Graduate Faculty, The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX

Research Interests

We are interested in the mathematical/computational modeling and experimental characterization of biomolecular interaction networks to unravel their role in cellular survival during stress.  

  • Project #1. We study by experiment and computational modeling the combined effect of noise and feedback regulation on the development of drug resistance. Our earlier studies proved that noise can aid survival after a single exposure to stress. The current project will test the effect of feedback regulation on the development and maintenance of non-genetic drug resistance. We will apply multiple exposures to stress, testing how a cell population benefits from the "memory" of earlier stress events due to positive autoregulation.
  • Project #2. We are designing gene constructs to shape the distribution of protein levels within a cell population. For example, we can now independently adjust the mean and noise (Coefficient of Variation) of a target gene in yeast. We have also built a "linearizer" gene circuit that converts a nonlinear (sigmoidal) dose response to linear.
  • Project #3. We aim to identify the network topology around stress-related genes within large-scale gene regulatory networks of three organisms: E. coli, S. cerevisiae and H. sapiens. We have discovered a distinct pattern of positioning and regulation of stress-related genes that is similar across the kingdoms of life, suggesting that it emerged due to similar evolutionary driving forces acting on all forms of life.
  • Project #4. We study the response of the large-scale gene regulatory networks of infectious microbes to stress using published microarray data. We identify distinct sets of transcriptional subnetworks (origons) that are affected at various times following exposure to stress. These results open the door for a systems-level understanding of the response of infectious microbes to stress, as well as their drug tolerance or drug resistance.
  • Project #5. We analyze and interpret the large-scale proteomics/drug screening/siRNA data collected at our department in the Gordon Mills laboratory. We are inferring signaling networks based on experimental data, and study their overlap with known interaction networks.

For more information, please visit:

http://openwetware.org/wiki/CHIP

http://www.uth.tmc.edu/gsbs/tutorial/balazsi.html

Education & Training

Degree-Granting Education

2001 University of Missouri, St. Louis and Rolla, MO, PHD, Physics
1999 University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO, MS, Physics
1997 Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj, Cluj, Romania, MS, Magnetism
1996 Babeş-Bolyai University of Cluj, Cluj, Romania, BS, Physics

Postgraduate Training

1/2004-7/2006 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Boston University, Center for BioDynamics and Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Boston, MA, Dr. James J. Collins
1/2002-12/2004 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, Drs. Zoltán N. Oltvai and Albert-László Barabási

Honors and Awards

2009 Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Missouri - St. Louis
2009 New Innovator Award, NIH Director's Program

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Original Research Articles
1. Irimia D, Balázsi G, Agrawal N, Toner M. Adaptive-control model for neutrophil orientation in the direction of chemical gradients. Biophys J. 96(10):3897-3916, 5/2009. PMID: 19450463.
2. Nevozhay D, Adams R, Murphy KF, Josić K, Balázsi G. Negative autoregulation linearizes the dose-response and suppresses the heterogeneity of gene expression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106(13):5123-5128, www.pnas.org, 3/2009. PMCID: PMC2654390.
3. Balázsi G, Heath AP, Shi L, Gennaro ML. The temporal response of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis gene regulatory network during growth arrest. Mol Syst Biol 4:225, 11/2008. PMID: 18985025.
4. Strickler JR, Balázsi G. Planktonic copepods reacting selectively to hydrodynamic disturbances. Philos Trans R Soc B Biol Sci. e-Pub 5/2007.
5. Murphy KF, Balázsi G, Collins JJ. Combinatorial promoter design for engineering noisy gene expression. Proc Nat Acad Sci 104: 12726-12731, 2007.
6. Blake WJ, Balázsi G, Kohanski MA, Isaacs FJ, Murphy KF, Kuang Y, Cantor CR, Walt DR, Collins JJ. Phenotypic consequences of promoter-mediated transcriptional noise. Mol Cell 24(6):853-865, 2006.
7. Balázsi G, Oltvai ZN. Sensing Your Surroundings: How Transcription Regulatory Networks of the Cell Discern Environmental Signals. Sci STKE 2005(282):pe20, 5/3/2005. PMID: 15870424.
8. Balázsi G, Barabási AL, Oltvai ZN. Topological units of environmental signal processing in the transcriptional-regulatory network of Escherichia coli. Proc Nat Acad Sci, USA 102(22):7841-7846, 2005.
9. Karsai I, Balázsi G. Organization of work via a natural substance: regulation of nest construction in social wasps. J Theor Biol 218(4):549-65, 10/21/2002. PMID: 12384056.
10. Balazsi G, Kish LB, Moss FE. Spatiotemporal Stochastic Resonance and its consequences in neural model systems. Chaos 11(3)(3):563-569, 2001. PMID: 12779493.
11. Balázsi G, Cornell-Bell AH, Neiman A, Moss F. Synchronization of Hyperexcitable Systems with Phase-Repulsive Coupling. Phys. Rev. E 64:041912, 2001.

Invited Articles
1. Balázsi G, Collins JJ. Taking the inventory inside single cells, News and Views. Nature Chemical Biology 3(3):141-142, 2007.

Grant & Contract Support

Title: Pan-European network for the study and clinical management of drug resistant tuberculosis (TB PAN-NET)
Funding Source: European Union Seventh Framework Programme
Role: Site PI
Principal Investigator: Cirillo
Duration: 1/1/2009 - 12/31/2011
 
Title: Characterization of Gene Expression Patterns of Microenvironment in Metastasized Osteoblastic Prostate Cancer
Funding Source: DOD/Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (DOD/CDMRP)
Role: Co-Investigator
Principal Investigator: Ju-Seog Lee
Duration: 7/28/2008 - 8/27/2010

Last updated: 9/26/2009