Louis and Beatrice Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology
The Louis and Beatrice Laufer Center for Physical and Quantitative Biology[1] (Laufer Center) is a multidisciplinary venue where research from such fields as biology, biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, engineering, genetics, mathematics, and physics can come together and target medical and biological problems using both computation and experiment. The Laufer Center is part of Stony Brook University. The center's current director is Dr. Ken A. Dill. Associate director is Dr. Carlos Simmerling. Core faculty members include Dr. Gábor Balázsi and Dr. Sasha F. Levy. Additional affiliate faculty are from the Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Applied Mathematics, Pharmacology, Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, Ecology & Evolution and Computer Science at Stony Brook University, as well as from the Biology Department at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Among the Laufer Center's goals is to enhance interdisciplinary education at Stony Brook University. Dr. Gábor Balázsi coordinates the flagship course of the Center, Physical and Quantitative Biology, which is offered each Fall through the Departments of Physics, Chemistry and Biomedical Engineering.
History
The center was founded in 2008 by a gift from Drs. Henry Laufer, Marsha Laufer and their family in memory of Louis and Beatrice Laufer. On May 7, 2012 the Laufer Center opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.[2]