Generally, it just applies to understanding how certain genes underlie the genetic basis of certain genetic diseases.
I believe Simons in particular funds areas of computational biology that strive to gain insight into the cascade effect. This occurs in many diseases, which make them seem nearly incurable, like sepsis or cancer. For example, when TNF (tumor necrosis factor0 activates inappropriately on the periphery of a cell it, to dramatically simplify, leads to growth during inappropriate stages of your life (adulthood), and triggers a cascade of thousands of events. When one event is altered, the cascade goes through a different direction, to the same goal. So understanding the pathway, and how everything interacts, is something I know the Simons foundation has funded in the past. With the hope that one day medications that properly fight the cascade can be achieved.
Mind if I ask what his degree was in? Would imagine it was something like computer science, as I've only ever heard of those in maths/stats/physics getting in with a PhD.
I believe Simons in particular funds areas of computational biology that strive to gain insight into the cascade effect. This occurs in many diseases, which make them seem nearly incurable, like sepsis or cancer. For example, when TNF (tumor necrosis factor0 activates inappropriately on the periphery of a cell it, to dramatically simplify, leads to growth during inappropriate stages of your life (adulthood), and triggers a cascade of thousands of events. When one event is altered, the cascade goes through a different direction, to the same goal. So understanding the pathway, and how everything interacts, is something I know the Simons foundation has funded in the past. With the hope that one day medications that properly fight the cascade can be achieved.