Richard D. Berlin Center for Cell Analysis & Modeling

CCAM Seminar Series

Speaker: Dr. Daniel Lobo, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Maryland

Title: “Regulatory mechanisms of cell differentiation and body shape formation: from phenotypes to models”

Abstract: Multicellular organisms develop tissues and body shapes through cell differentiation, proliferation, and migration. Understanding the regulatory mechanisms controlling spatial and dynamical patterns is a current challenge due to the complex feedback loops between molecular signals, mechanical forces, and the emergent cell types and tissue shapes they control. I will present our bioinformatics and systems biology approach, which integrates molecular assays, dynamic mathematical modeling, and de novo machine learning inference algorithms, to understand cell differentiation and body shape regulation. We demonstrated this methodology by understanding the whole-body regulation of planarian worm shapes, differentiation of human hematopoietic stem cells, and pattern formation of developmental synthetic biology systems.

Location: Grossman Auditorium 

Via Webex: 

https://uchc.webex.com/uchc/j.php?MTID=mf22ff6a646a108fce2728863c3525d53

Meeting number (access code): 2863 037 1820

Meeting password: CCAMseminars

Guest Host: Dr. Michael Blinov

CAM Research in Progress

Speaker: Dr. Abhijit Deb Roy

Title: “When Microtubules Lose Their Tail: The Detyrosination Story”

Via Webex: https://uconnhealth.webex.com/uconnhealth/j.php?MTID=mdacf393cf6a2ee5314a3b76525ea5e57

CCAM Seminar Series 

Speaker: Dr. Ian Wong, Associate Professor of Engineering, Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University

Title: “Mechanobiology and Topology of Collective Cell Migration”

Abstract: Complex tissue architectures emerge from the interactions of migratory epithelial cells, driving self-organizing and pattern forming behaviors. In particular, transitions between multicellular groups and individuals (i.e. epithelial-mesenchymal transitions) occur widely in embryonic development, wound healing, and cancer progression. Here, I present my group’s work on collective cell migration at the interface of mechanobiology and topology. First, I describe our work on orbiting to invasive transitions of multicellular spheroids in 3D matrix, which we have systematically explored using experiment and computational modeling. Second, I present results on topological data analysis for human interpretable machine learning of multicellular patterns. I highlight the use of persistence diagrams and persistence images for dimensionality reduction and classification of tissue architectures. We envision that these physical and mathematical approaches enable new insights into the complexity of tissue morphogenesis in development and disease.

Bio: Ian Wong is Associate Professor of Engineering, and of Pathology / Laboratory Medicine at Brown University. He engineers new miniaturized technologies based on biomaterials and microfluidics to investigate cancer cell invasion, drug resistance, and heterogeneity. He is also interested in the unconventional fabrication of bio and nano materials using self-assembly and 3D printing. He did his graduate work on the directed self-assembly of biomolecular materials with Nick Melosh, receiving a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University. His postdoctoral training was with Mehmet Toner and Daniel Irimia at the Center for Engineering in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Location: CGSB Grossman Auditorium

Via Webex: https://uchc.webex.com/uchc/j.php?MTID=mac08cf7c2a074edebb81c5014fa956e6 

Meeting number (access code): 2632 055 2912

Meeting password: CCAMseries

Guest Host: Dr. Abhi Deb Roy

CAM Presentation

Speaker: Dr. Michael Blinov

Title: TBD 

Via Webex: https://uconnhealth.webex.com/uconnhealth/j.php?MTID=mdacf393cf6a2ee5314a3b76525ea5e57

CAM Presentation

Speaker: Jinhong Dong

Title: TBD 

Via Webex: https://uconnhealth.webex.com/uconnhealth/j.php?MTID=mdacf393cf6a2ee5314a3b76525ea5e57