Description:

Title: Investigating the internal dynamics of inflammatory response

Abstract:

Our immune system detects and responds rapidly to unexpected challenges from invading pathogens. These responses are orchestrated by a variety of cells throughout the body, and the molecules that they use to communicate, creating rich internal dynamics. These include feed forward interactions that are crucial to system function, but can be dangerous to the host. While we have a nearly complete list of the components of this complex system, understanding the molecular and mathematical drivers of its dynamics remains a vast challenge. I will discuss recent progress on two aspects of this problem. First, I will discuss steps towards disentangling the role of tissue, as opposed to the external stimulus, in determining spatiotemporal patterns of gene expression during an inflammatory response in a model system. Second, I will discuss a new computational method that uses contrastive learning to address the problem of characterizing dynamical behavior when there is no clear a priori model, a scenario that often arises in immune contexts. I will conclude by discussing the avenues that these open for investigating how the collective action of cells and molecules within tissues control inflammatory responses.

Bio:

Elizabeth Jerison is an Assistant Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago. The Jerison Lab leverages experimental technologies, combined with tools from statistical physics and dynamical systems, to investigate tipping points in collective behavior in immunity and inflammation. 

Learn more about Elizabeth Jerison's work

The NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology Seminar Series aims to bring together a mix of mathematicians and biologists to foster discussion and collaboration between the two fields. The seminar series will take place on Fridays from 10am - 11am at the NITMB offices in the John Hancock Center in downtown Chicago. There will be both an in-person and virtual component.