Adam has written a perspective on the story behind our recent preprint and the connections to cancer. Thanks to the mathematical oncology blog for the invitation!
Megan Franke developed a multiscale hybrid model of cell-cell communication (with a deterministic cell-internal gene regulatory network and stochastic single-cell resolved signaling model). Through analysis of a large range of cell signaling topologies, we discovered that even subtle cell-cell communication can dramatically alter cell fate decision-making and result in heterogeneous distributions of hematopoietic cell types.
Our analysis also helps to resolve some controversies in the literature regarding myeloid cell fates controlled by the GATA1-PU.1 mutual inhibition loop. The preprint is available here.
In the tenth annual Southern California Systems Biology Symposium, Megan gave an invited talk entitled: Forcing cells to change lineages via cell-cell communication. Congrats, Megan!
The proposal, CAREER: Inference of gene regulatory networks and cell dynamics that control stem cell fate has been awarded by the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS) Mathematical Biology program.
The research objectives of this award focus on developing new network inference methods and multiscale models of the dynamics of stem cells as they make cell fate decisions during differentiation.
The educational objectives of this award focus on training a new generation of scientists to be simultaneously literate in the mathematical and the life sciences. We will develop new curricula for elementary age and middle/high school age students in the local area around USC. We will take on the challenge of translating sophisticated topics (e.g. how & why we make mathematical models of cells) to young audiences. Updates on our progress will be posted in Outreach.
Celebrating the end of the Fall semester with a 2020 group picture. Grateful to everyone in the lab persevering through this gauntlet of a year that is 2020. We are all hoping that we are able to do science IRL in 2021!
Welcome to new students joining the lab this semester! Obadiah Mulder (CBB PhD program) will work on single-cell gene regulatory networks. Undergraduate and Masters students Gina, Jaclyn, and Nikith will also join the lab for research experience this semester.
Adam hosted a mini-symposium at eSMB2020 with Russell Rockne (City of Hope). We featured four speakers presenting exciting work under the theme of modeling dynamics in single-cell biology.
Adam has joined the university-wide faculty of USC Stem Cell: an initiative to connect researchers tackling questions in stem cell biology from across the sciences, engineering, and the Keck School of Medicine.
Adam gave a talk at the virtual symposium this week between QCB and USC Stem Cell, focused on increasing collaboration between the two departments. The talk was entitled: Forcing cells to change lineages by cell-cell communication.