Complex Biosystems Inc.

Top left: SUNY Upstate Institute of Human Performance. Top right: SUNY Upstate Weiskotten Hall (Biomedical research). Center: Syracuse University Life Science Facility. Bottom left: Syracuse University Link Hall (Bioengineering). Bottom Right: Syracuse University Lyman C. Smith (Engineering)

The company

We are strategically located in a high technology area in Syracuse New York, i.e., next to Syracuse University, and the SUNY Upstate Medical University. Various local programs allow us to take advantage of the expertise and facilities around us.

Our mission is to equip mainly Life Science but also Engineering firms with products & services allowing them to take advantage of modeling and simulations to timely develop processes and devices. Our software can streamline complex manipulations, reduce time on task, and increase the quality of end products. We are also prepared to prototype medical devices.

The Owner, Jacques Beaumont Ph.D. has a Bachelor's degree in Physics Engineering, a Master's degree in Physics (instrumentation), and a Ph.D. in Computational Bioengineering. He is experienced with the modeling and simulation of Biological systems. see resume or full curriculum vitae for more information.

The company's offerings include:

1. Protein kinetics analysis (PKA) in single cells.

Our analysis applies to membrane channels as well as receptors, and chemical agents but more specifically to cells of excitable tissue. We characterize native components gating, and how they are altered by drugs. Our analysis differ from the conventional PKA in the sense that it is based on elaborate mathematical representations of the gating mechanism. By this we mean nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) like the Hodgkin & Huxley formalism, or time continuous Markov processes, as opposed to the conventional reaction rate kinetics.

We analyze bioelectric signals generated by isolated cells subjected to electrical stimulation, e.g. voltage clamp. From it we deduce the components of gating kinetics model. Our processes alleviate all limitations inherent to nonlinear fitting that has been used so far. They further specify how cells should be stimulated to fully constrain the estimation problem at the basis of kinetic analysis.

2. Experiments & simulations to predict drug side effects or/and efficacy on tissue

For cell types that have been previously characterized with our methods, we gather experimental data in isolated cells followed by a mathematical analysis to deduce how a drug alter various protein or chemical agent kinetics. We readily support analysis in animal cells, (rabbit, dog, pig, mice, and rat) and in cardiac induced pluripotent stem cells. Indeed we have access to a cell line replicating quite well the main features of cardiac: nodal, atrial, and ventricular cells. Study on human cells is also possible by involving other collaborators but require special arrangements. If a customer wishes to do so, this data can be subsequently fed to a cell and tissue model to predict the effect of a drug on a biological function. For example how tissue respond to: entrainment at various frequencies, premature excitation, and adrenergic or cholinergic stimulation. Or for example whether it can prevent abnormal excitation: taking place in the vicinity of injuries, subsequent to premature excitation, following a rapid change of rhythm or post surgery. Modeling & simulation to support medical device prototype. Our forte is in bioelectric phenomena. Specifically we can elaborate a mathematical model of the cell response to an implanted electric device. Then for cell types that have been characterized with our methods, we can conduct simulations to predict the effect of the stimulation on biological tissue. Not only the simulations constitute a powerful mean to characterize the performance of various device configurations, but more importantly it returns precise quantitative data an engineer can use to improve a design. While our forte is in bioelectricity, we can also offer that service for fluidic and optic devices.

3. Set up, repair and support of LINUX scientific platforms.

By scientific platforms we mean: graphic stations, data server, computing server, parallel server, … etc. We build from computer & electronic components offered by: supermicro (supermicro.com), or ASUS (www.asus.com). We work with LINUX (Centos, Red hat, Ubuntu, Open Suse, or Fedora) because it is the platform of choice to take advantage open source software. In the scientific arena a plethora of Open Source applications been development with government funding support and overseen by scientific committee and are of high quality. We can install and support Open Source software for various scientific applications. We follow this service with a remote system administration service. We build systems with redundancy with an infrastructure that permit to monitor the state of all components. We can detect failure early, replace defective components on the fly, and in this way reduce, almost eliminate, down time.

4. In terms of products.

We will soon introduce a package for PKA that is based on our analytical methods and that allow to: define cell models of various configurations, and simulate the electrical activity of cells of excitable tissue. This includes replicating drug effects.

Strategically located we have access to considerable resources . Syracuse University has a Life Science complex (center in the figure) equipped with state of the art technology to investigate biological processes including: confocal light microscopes, mass spectrometers, ultracentrifuges, nuclear magnetic resonance scanners, small animal vivaria, and very impressive facilities to prototype and test new biomaterials.

The SUNY Upstate Medical University has two high technology buildings, the institute of human performance (iHP, top left in the figure), and the Neuroscience Building (behind iHP). The iHP is a remarkable facility for rehabilitation therapy. It offers several benches to test rehabilitation technologies. The Neuroscience Building is equipped with high resolution biomedical imaging facilities permitting among other capabilities live imaging. Overall, it offers impressive means to test devices targeting the treatment of neurological disorders.

There currently exists a number of local programs that allow enterprises like us to take advantage of these facilities. Further these institutions graduate each year students with a wide range of expertise spanning: Bioengineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Sciences, and Biomedical sciences. Various academic programs like the co-op program of Syracuse University enable us to involve these students relatively early in their training such that they are well prepared to work with our customers upon graduation.