“Mathematical Challenges from the Life Sciences” Programme
Monday 18- Wednesday 20 September 2017,
Oculus Building, the University of Warwick
- Lunch, coffee and posters in Oculus 0.01
- Talks in Oculus 0.02
"Bayesian inference for models of epithelial morphogenesis”
"How Evolution and Environment Shape Cancer"Evolutionary theory explains why metazoan species are largely protected against the negative fitness effects of cancers. Nevertheless, cancer is observed across a range of species and sometimes at high prevalence. I present a simple model showing how life history traits (e.g., body size) are expected to coevolve with anti-cancer mechanisms. The insights of this model form the basis for understanding cancer incidence and resistance mechanisms in different species and across different human tissues.Prof Ellen Baake, Universitat Bielefeld
"Modelling Lenski's experiment"
We reconsider the long-term evolution experiment of Lenski and, building
on [1] and [2], formulate an individual-based model that takes into
account the design of the experiment, the interaction between fitness
effects, as well as clonal interference. We analyse the model
analytically (for constant fitness effects) and by means of simulations
(for random fitness effects). We discuss the results in the light of
previous modelling approaches.This is joint work with Adrian Gonzalez Casanova, Sebastian Probst, and
Anton Wakolbinger.[1] M.J. Wiser, N. Ribeck, R.E. Lenski, Long-term dynamics of adaptation
in asexual populations, Science 342 (2013), 1364-1367
[2] A. Gonzalez Casanova, N. Kurt, A. Wakolbinger, L. Yuan, An
individual-based model for the Lenski experiment, and the deceleration
of the relative fitness. Stoch. Proc. Appl. 126 (2016), 2211--2252.Prof John Edmunds, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
“Modelling Ebola in West Africa”Short Talks.
Ed Hill
"Assessing intervention responses against H5N1 avian influenza outbreaks in Bangladesh"
Christian Yates
"A novel hybrid framework for reaction-diffusion processes"Ross Booton
"Modelling within-host immunity and between-host epidemiology in honey bees"
“Identifying the spatial scale of interactions resolves the mechanisms governing disease transmission"
"Building microbial communities in the lab"
"Approximate Bayesian Catastrophes: Learning Epigenetic Landscapes from Single Cell Data"
Increasing availability of single cell data allows us to study cellular decision making processes in unprecedented detail. But coupled with state of the art statistical and computational methods it also allows us to revisit and apply some classical work of Christopher Zeeman and Rene Thom in catastrophe theory, I will outline how the combination of new data, novel Bayesian computational approaches, and classical theory results in reconstructed epigenetic landscapes that allow us to study stem cell differentiation processes; these landscapes are immediately interpretable and allow us to map out the gene expression patterns that accompany cellular differentiation processes.
"Headsups from Maths regarding the Charateristics of Attractants Drawing Immune Cells to Wounds"
"Bayesian inference for spatial transmission of visceral leishmaniasis"Carlos Reding
"Antibiotic gradients maximise bacterial growth rate accelerating the evolution of resistance"Lorenzo Pellis
"Large variations in HIV-1 viral load explained by shifting-mosaic metapopulation dynamics"Gala Dinner, Chacellor's Suite (Rootes Building)
"Quantitating hematopoiesis"Hematopoietic stem cells produce an enormous diversity of cell types making up the blood and the immune system. Until recently, the major tool for probing hematopoiesis in vivo has been the transplantation of stem cells into irradiated mice. Recently, new genetic tools for the non-invasive labeling of hematopoietic stem cells have been developed that now allow us to map stem cell fate under physiological conditions. Using population-dynamic models and statistical inference, I will show that time-resolved fate mapping data are informative on the dynamics and the topology of the differentiation pathways emanating from stem cells. Our findings provide a quantitative measure for stem cell self-renewal, support the contested model of hierarchical hematopoietic differentiation, and challenge prevalent views on the maintenance and clonality of HSC in the bone marrow.“Systems analysis for sustainable development”
"Statistical inference from cancer sequencing data"I will describe some theoretical aspects of modelling cancer evolution, in particular what seems to be easy to infer and what seems to be hard. The methodology comes from the ABC and coalescent part of the subject, with due allowance for the cancer setting. I will also outline our recently funded project from the CRUK Grand Challenge competition, which will provide novel in-situ data in 3.5D on a vast scale.
"Quantitative approaches to lymphocyte pathfinding and synapse formation”