Quantitative Life Sciences (QLS) is the broad application of mathematical, computational and other quantitative methods to study biological systems at all scales - from single molecules to the environment. It is part of a rapidly expanding field that includes such specializations as systems biology, bioinformatics, biophysics, medical informatics, computational biology, computational pharmacology, computational neuroscience and mathematical biology.
QLS researchers recognize that the most important and challenging problems in biology, medicine and the environment, will not be solved without a highly interdisciplinary approach that will advance the rapidly changing landscape of life sciences.
QLS is an interdisciplinary PhD program, under Interfaculty Studies at McGill University. It received provincial approval in 2018. Prof. Celia Greenwood is the (inaugural) Graduate Program Director. PhD students work on research problems impacting many life sciences domains. This graduate program is an appropriate home for students who work with Ludmer Centre members. For example, Selin Jessa (PhD 2023) was supervised by Prof. Claudia Kleinman and worked on creating a developmental gene expression resource for cell types in the brain. Tianyuan Lu (PhD 2022) was supervised by Prof. Celia Greenwood, and estimated the impact of genetic risk scores on multiple traits including depression and psychiatric disease.
