The Centre for Mathematical Medicine
is a research initiative aimed at bringing together research
expertise in mathematics and medicine to address the plethora
of research questions arising at the mathematics/medicine
interface. With the recent emergence of mathematical medicine
as a distinct discipline, it has become abundantly clear
that an interdisciplinary approach is essential for the
successful application of the mathematical/computational
sciences to problems arising in the medical sciences.
With the diversity of Medical Specialty
Hospitals in Toronto, as well as
the considerable concentration of applied mathematics
departments and
research groups in Ontario, a Centre encompassing all
the relevant groups
is the most suitable means of developing an integrated
and cohesive
strategy.
The Centre will provide a focus
for communication between the different groups and a means
of facilitating research collaborations and grant applications
as well as play an educational role. This will involve
a combination of workshops, discussion meetings, collaborative
research projects, and short and long term visitor program
- designed to stimulate interdisciplinary research both
within Ontario and in collaboration with other research
groups across Canada. It is envisioned that the Centre
will also organize a seminar program on mathematical medicine
and annual symposia at the Fields Institute.
Teaching will also be a major part
of the Centre's activity, at an
undergraduate and postgraduate level. This will be accomplished
by
coordinating teaching sessions, seminars and lectures.
The Centre will initially be comprised
of members of the Teaching
Hospitals in Toronto, and the Universities of Waterloo,
Toronto, York and
Guelph, who use mathematics to provide insights into biomedical
phenomena.
Our aim will be to promote the application of mathematical
modeling to
medicine and the biomedical sciences and to general stimulate
interdisciplinary research in Ontario and across the country.