When   Monday, January 26, 2009   Time   4:00 PM - 5:00 PM  
Where   Technological Instit M416 2145 Sheridan Rd.   map it
Audience   - Faculty/Staff - Student - Public
Contact   Molly E Scanlon   +1 847 491 5586  
Group   McCormick-Colloquia Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics

Applied Math Colloquium

Title: Spatial dynamics of cell signaling

Speaker: Ching-Shan Chou, University of California Irvine

Abstract:

Spatial heterogeneity of molecules or cells is functionally important to biological systems, and it is often achieved or induced by cell signaling. One of the central questions in cell and developmental biology is to identify and understand the underlying mechanisms of the emergence, the robustness and the dynamics of the spatial patterning. In this talk, I will present our study on two biological systems: (1) cell polarization in yeast pheromone sensing, (2) multi stage cell lineage in epithelium, in which we investigated the strategic control of the systems through modeling with partial differential equations and computational analysis. In addition to modeling, I will also discuss computational challenges that arise from exploring such biological models.