Whither the biomedical revolution? A physics perspective | Tim Newman | TEDxUniversityofDundee

The past four decades of massive funding in understanding biology at the molecular level has only delivered modest translational impact on major diseases such as cancer and diabetes. We still have no effective understanding of, nor treatment for, metastatic disease, which is the main cause of death for cancer patients. In this talk Tim gives his own perspectives, through three short lessons, on how physical science and engineering can bring new ideas and perspectives to biomedical research, with emphases on both fundamental understanding and patient outcomes.

Tim Newman is Professor of Biophysics and Dean of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics at the University of Dundee, UK. Tim studied theoretical physics at the Universities of Oxford and Manchester, and then pursued research in complex systems as a postdoctoral scholar in Europe and the US. Since 2000 he has applied theoretical physics ideas to the life sciences and, prior to moving to Dundee in 2011, he held academic positions at the University of Virginia and Arizona State University. His research has covered many different biological scales, from ecology to embryo development to cell and molecular biology. His current research is heavily focused on cancer progression. From 2011-2014 he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Physical Biology. He has served on numerous panels and boards in the US and the UK and continually strives to nurture interdisciplinary research and education at the interface between the physical sciences and the life sciences.