Susan J. Rosowski Professor & Director, Digital Twin Innovation Hub
Decoding Life. One Model at a Time.
Computational biology at the intersection of life-saving research, radical accessibility, and deeply personal purpose.
Dr. Helikar is building a multiscale digital twin of the entire human immune system -- integrating signal transduction, gene regulation, metabolism, and cell population dynamics. The goal: enable virtual clinical trials and cut the $1.2-2.5 billion drug development cycle with its 93% failure rate.
Creator of Cell Collective -- a free platform that lets students from kindergarten through graduate school build and simulate biological models, no coding required. 23,000+ users worldwide. Same tools scientists use, accessible to everyone.
When Dr. Helikar's infant son received a lung transplant at just 9 weeks old, his abstract research became intensely personal. He doesn't just model immune systems -- he's working toward a future where treatments are personalized, development is faster, and no parent has to wait as long as they did.
Three interlocking research programs that span from molecular mechanisms to global education platforms.
A multiscale, multicellular computational model of CD4+ T helper cell differentiation -- how immune cells specialize in response to infections. Applications include autoimmune diseases (MS, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus), infectious disease, and personalized drug targets.
The $5M+ Digital Twin Innovation Hub at UNL (2022) is driving toward a functional first draft of a digital human immune system -- usable by researchers and clinicians worldwide.
Ask about this research →The Helikar Lab develops mathematical frameworks integrating Boolean models, constraint-based metabolic modeling, and agent-based approaches -- building unified multi-scale systems that capture biology from molecular to whole-organism levels.
The COMO pipeline enables low-cost metabolic drug target discovery, applied to B cell models for conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
Ask about COMO →"When we teach students the traditional way using memorization, they miss out on the complex and dynamic nature of biological systems." -- Cell Collective puts research-grade simulation tools directly in students' hands.
23,000+ registered users globally. 1,500+ UNL students per year in LIFE 120/121. Funded by $4.1M in NSF/IUSE grants. GNU GPL licensed and free for all academic use.
Visit cellcollective.org →Dr. Helikar is a founding member of the Global Alliance for Immune Prediction and Intervention (GLIMPRint) -- an international consortium working to coordinate immune digital twin research across institutions and countries.
Hosts the annual Cell Modeling Online Summer School and Hackathon, training the next generation of computational immunologists.
Ask about GLIMPRint →A career built at the intersection of biology, mathematics, and a desire to make science accessible.
As a computer engineering student at UNO, Dr. Helikar was recruited by Dr. Jim Rogers to model biochemical pathways. "That project opened my eyes to this world at the intersection of biology, mathematics, and computer science."
University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dissertation focused on how cells process environmental signals -- the foundation for all subsequent immune modeling research.
Three years deepening mathematical modeling skills in UNO's Department of Mathematics -- bridging pure math with biological systems.
Published "The Cell Collective: Toward an open and collaborative approach to systems biology" in BMC Systems Biology. The platform launches publicly -- making biological simulation free and accessible to all.
Appointed Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Founds the Helikar Lab. Begins building a team around immune systems modeling and education technology.
First major NSF/IUSE grant funds formal development and pedagogical validation of Cell Collective as a classroom tool. The research proves computational modeling improves higher-order thinking in students.
Second NSF/IUSE grant funds national expansion of Cell Collective. Reaches institutions across the country. Named Susan J. Rosowski Professor of Biochemistry.
PLOS Computational Biology publishes "A multi-approach and multi-scale platform to model CD4+ T cells responding to infections" -- integrating 4 mathematical approaches across 3 spatial scales. A milestone for immune digital twin research.
Co-authors international roadmap "Building digital twins of the human immune system" in Nature Digital Medicine. Simultaneously awarded the $5M+ UNL Grand Challenges Catalyst Award to establish the Digital Twin Innovation Hub.
Leading a team of 25-30+ researchers toward the five-year goal: a functional first draft of a digital immune system usable by the global scientific and clinical community.
Powered by GPT-5.4 with Dr. Helikar's full research profile and hallucination guardrails. Ask anything about Cell Collective, immune system modeling, computational biology careers, or his research.
Key publications spanning computational biology, systems immunology, and STEM education research.