BS (Licenciatura), University of Lisbon MSc (Mestrado), University of Lisbon PhD, Boston University Keck Foundation Young Scholar in Medical Research Searle Leadership Fund Award, Northwestern University Complex networks in nature; system-level modeling of biological processes

Research Group Web Site

Integrative modeling of gene and protein interaction-networks

Our group's goal is to develop models that provide insight into the emergence, evolution, and stability of complex systems. To this end we develop and validate models that can be studied by means of computational experiments. Our approach focuses on the identification of the mechanisms determining the dynamics of a given system. We then translate these mechanisms into a parsimonious set of rules that can be implemented and investigated by computational means.

Recent publications:

Guimerà, R.; Mossa, S.; Turtschi, A.; Amaral, L.A.N. "The worldwide air transportation network: Anomalous centrality, community structure, and cities' global roles." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 102, 7794-7799 (2005).

Guimerà, R., Uzzi, B.; Spiro, J.; Amaral, L.A.N. "Team assembly mechanisms determine collaborationnetwork structure and team performance." Science 308, 697-702 (2005).

Guimera, R.; Amaral, L.A.N. "Functional cartography of complex metabolic networks." Nature 433, 895-900 (2005).

Moreira, A.A.; Amaral, L.A.N. "Canalizing kauffman networks: nonergodicity and its effect on their critical behavior." Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, art. no. 218702, 1-4 (2005).

Amaral, L.A.N.; Ottino, J.M. "Complex networks - augmenting the framework for the study of complex systems." Eur. Phys. J. B 38, 147-162 (2004).

Amaral, L.A.N.; Diaz-Guilera, A.; Moreira, A.A.; Goldberger, A.L.; Lipsitz, L.A. "Emergence of complex dynamics in a simple model of signaling networks." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 101, 15551-15555 (2004).

Moreira, A.A.; Mathur, A.; Diermeier, D.; Amaral, L.A.N. "Efficient system-wide coordination in noisy environments." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 101, 12085-12090 (2004).

Prof. Luis A. Nunes Amaral
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Northwestern University
2145 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208-3120

tel: 847/491-7850
fax: 847/491-3728
E-mail Professor Amaral