DIMACS' INITIATIVE IN COMPUTATIONAL 
AND MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY

	DIMACS has launched a major initiative in computational and mathematical biology.
	Shortly after the founding of DIMACS, the Executive Committee decided that, since DIMACS was the national center for discrete mathematics and theoretical computer science, it owed it to the community to explore the role of these fields in the human genome project.  Together with the Waksman Institute for Molecular Genetics at Rutgers, DIMACS sponsored a "Genome Day" program, featuring lectures by Eric Lander of MIT and Michael Waterman of USC.  We were amazed at the enthusiastic response:  More than 150 people attended the one day Workshop held at Rutgers in April 1991.
	Following the successful Genome Day, we have moved on, in collaboration with Waksman, to more serious research activities.  These center around molecular genetics, including fragment assembly, artificial intelligence in molecular biology, informatics, pattern identification for genetic regulatory regions, DNA and protein structure predictions, the detection of distantly related proteins by sequence comparison, protein folding, and self-organization and adaptation of complex systems.  However, other topics in mathematical and computational biology will also be covered.
NEW BIOLOGY SEMINAR SERIES HAS BEEN LAUNCHED

	One feature of the new initiative is a joint DIMACS/Waksman seminar series in computational and mathematical biology.  This series was launched in the Spring of 1991, and lectures have been held sporadically since then.  In the Spring semester of 1992, the series has started on a more systematic and regular basis, under the leadership of Michiel Noordewier, DIMACS permanent member and Waksman member, and Martin Farach, DIMACS postdoctoral fellow.
	The first two speakers of the Spring semester were David Searls from the University of Pennsylvania and David Waltz of Brandeis University.  Dr. Searls described the application of formal language theory to genetic analysis, while Dr. Waltz talked about the use of massive parallelism in genetics.  Tentatively, other speakers this spring and their topics are as follows: 

	Marek Kimmel
	Department of Statistics, Rice University
	"Mathematical Models of Gene Amplification and Related 
	     Processes"

	Michael Gribskov
	National Cancer Institute, Washington, D.C.
	"The Detection of Distantly related Proteins"

	Lawrence Hunter
	National Library of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
	"The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Molecular Biology"

	Chao Chen
	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
	"Mathematical Model-Based Risk Analysis of Cancer Genes"

JOINT ACTIVITIES WITH SIMS: 
Genome Tutorial at DIMACS this Summer

	A second feature of the new initiative involves a partnership with SIMS, the Societal Institute for the Mathematical Sciences.  SIMS is a non-profit corporation, originally founded by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, which acts as an organizer for multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research projects involving the use of the mathematical sciences in the solution of such societal problems as air pollution, toxic substances, and AIDS.  DIMACS has joined in a SIMS research consortium on mathematical approaches to the genome problem, together with researchers at Columbia and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.  
	In the summer of 1991, SIMS held a three week genome tutorial at Stanford, sponsored by NIH, which was attended by DIMACS permanent members Lawrence Shepp and Andrew Yao.  We have agreed to sponsor the second SIMS genome tutorial at DIMACS/Rutgers in the summer of 1992, specifically July 26 to August 14.  Distinguished mathematicians, computer scientists, and molecular biologists will visit DIMACS and present lectures of a tutorial nature during this period.  DIMACS and Waksman faculty will also participate. In addition, we anticipate holding an intensive research level seminar in computational and mathematical biology during the same three week period, to complement the genome tutorial.
 ANNOUNCEMENT:

DIMACS TO HOST MAA MEETING

	On Saturday, March 28, DIMACS will host the Spring joint meeting of the New Jersey Section of the Mathematical Association of America and the Two Year College Mathematics Association of New Jersey.  The meeting, to be held at Rutgers, will center around a discrete mathematics theme. A DIMACS address will be delivered by DIMACS member Ronald Graham from Bell Labs.  DIMACS will also sponsor some presentations by Rutgers and Princeton undergraduates.  The participants will join us for lunch in our lounge.
	This meeting is part of DIMACS' attempt to expose the scientific community in the State to the many activities in our field.  It is also part of DIMACS' initiative in undergraduate education and research.