From individual to collective behaviour in biological systems

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Programme theme

In recent years there has been an explosive growth in our knowledge of biological processes, especially at the molecular and cellular level. However, understanding the behaviour of an individual chemical reaction or cell (or organism) in isolation is only a first step in understanding the collective behaviour of a population of such individuals. The situation is complicated by the fact that the individual behaviour is in many cases stochastic, and even if it were intrinsically deterministic, the environment is not. Therefore probabilistic methods are essential in deriving a population-level description from models of individual behaviour, though it is unlikely that the same mathematical approach will be applicable in all systems.

Biology is too broad for one programme to cover all systems susceptible to mathematical analysis. Therefore this programme will concentrate on four biological topics: (1) Physiology. The emphasis will be on bringing together those who have established detailed descriptions of individual cells and then put them together into a whole organ on a parallel computer, one cell per processor, and those who try to establish average or continuum models, based on the same microscopic data, in advance of computation. (2) Development biology. This topic covers all aspects of pattern-formation in populations of cells. Given that we know more and more about what chemical and other processes are switched on or off by which genes, it is increasingly desirable to understand how the cells act and interact to produce observed structures. (3) Stochastic spatial ecology. In this time of unprecedented environmental change it is crucial for scientists to formulate a mechanistic (stochastic) description of the change based on underlying ecological processes: examples include the spatial spread of introduced pests; the shift of species ranges as a result of environmental change (climatic or directly man-made), etc. (4) Theoretical immunology. New techniques have led to an increasing stream of kinetic data on the populations of various types of immune cells. However, proper understanding of the dynamics of these populations will come only in the framework of a formal theoretical model.

The specific program in each of the four major areas is formulated with the advice and assistance of a leading biologist:

Physiology - Dennis Noble (Oxford)
Developmental biology - Michael Akam (Cambridge)
Stochastic spatial ecology - Charles Godfray (Imperial)
Theoretical immunology - Martin Nowak (Princeton)

Each month of the programme will be devoted to one of the topics, beginning with a workshop on both the biological problems and those mathematical approaches which might be expected to be fruitful. While most biological participants will probably wish to stay for only one of the topics, it is hoped that key mathematical scientists will stay for the whole four-month period.

Click here to download the programme's final scientific report

Preprints

Title	Year	Programme
Pattern formation in reaction-diffusion models with nonuniform domain growth Authors: WW Hackborn, PK Maini, ET Al, EJ Crampin Download PDF	2001	ICB
Mathematical modelling of tumour angiogenesis and the action of angiostatin as a protease inhibitor Authors: ET Al, S Pamuk, Howard Levine, BD Sleeman Download PDF	2001	ICB
Making sense of complex phenomena in biology Authors: PK Maini Download PDF	2001	ICB
A mathematical model for germinal centre kinetics and affinity maturation Authors: PK Maini, D Iber Download PDF	2001	ICB

Workshops

ICBW01

Seminars

Wednesday 12th September 2001
15:30 to 17:30	Hans Othmer University of Minnesota Dicty Overview Tutorial	Room 2

Thursday 13th September 2001
15:30 to 17:30	Molecular motors Tutorial	Room 2

Friday 14th September 2001
15:30 to 17:30	Johannes Jaeger Developmental dynamics Tutorial	Room 2

Monday 17th September 2001
15:30 to 17:30	Hans Othmer University of Minnesota Stochastic analysis Tutorial	Room 2

Tuesday 18th September 2001
15:30 to 17:30	Nick Monk University of Sheffield Developmental Biology Tutorial	Room 2

Wednesday 19th September 2001
15:30 to 17:30	Cardiac Physiology I Tutorial	Room 2

Thursday 20th September 2001
15:30 to 17:30	Peter Hunter University of Auckland Cardiac Physiology II Tutorial	Room 1

Friday 21st September 2001
15:30 to 17:30	Workshop prelim reports Tutorial	Room 2

Monday 1st October 2001
09:00 to 10:00	Paul Kulesa CALTECH (California Institute of Technology) Tutorial on developmental mechanics	Room 2
10:30 to 11:30	Mechanics in plant morphogenesis	Room 2
14:00 to 15:00	Peter Hunter University of Auckland Tutorial on cardiac mechanics	Room 2

Tuesday 2nd October 2001
11:30 to 12:30	Fundamentals of solid mechanics	Room 2

Wednesday 3rd October 2001
15:30 to 16:30	Ray Keller University of Virginia Tutorial on developmental mechanics	Room 2

Thursday 4th October 2001
14:30 to 15:30	Pedro Ponte Castaneda University of Pennsylvania Tutorial on homogenisation	Room 2

Tuesday 9th October 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Sima Setayeshgar Electrical wave propagation in the heart: dynamics of scroll waves in anisotropic excitable media	Room 2

Thursday 11th October 2001
13:30 to 14:30	Stephen Grand Aalborg Universitet Computational models you can cuddle	Room 1

Monday 15th October 2001
15:30 to 16:30	Pedro Ponte Castaneda University of Pennsylvania Tutorial on homogenisation (part 2)	Room 2

Tuesday 16th October 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Robert Dillon Washington State University Modelling limb outgrowth and gene expression in vertebrates	Room 1

Wednesday 17th October 2001
13:30 to 14:30	Dirk Drasdo Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie, Jena Towards a quantative single-cell-based model approach to multicellular systems: early developmental stages and tumour spheriods	Room 1

Thursday 18th October 2001
14:00 to 14:45	Eric Cytrynbaum University of Utah Stability of the travelling pulse and the restitution hypothesis	Room 1
14:45 to 15:30	Robert Hinch University of Oxford Stochastic transitions between fixed points	Room 1

Monday 22nd October 2001
15:30 to 16:30	Edith Geigant University of Bonn Bifurcation analysis of an orientational aggregation model	Room 2

Tuesday 23rd October 2001
11:00 to 13:00	Discussion group on computational cardiology	Room 1
13:30 to 14:15	Kevin Painter Molecular evolution of brain tumours	Room 1
14:15 to 15:30	Faustino Sanchez-Garduno Aalborg Universitet Growth, curvature and pattern formation	Room 1

Monday 29th October 2001
14:00 to 16:30	Welcome discussion	Room 1

Tuesday 30th October 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Matthieu Louis Modelling the molecular mechanism of sex determination in Drosophila melanogaster	Room 1

Wednesday 31st October 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Informal talks	Room 1

Thursday 1st November 2001
14:00 to 17:00	TBA	Room 1

Friday 2nd November 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Informal talks	Room 1

Monday 5th November 2001
14:00 to 15:30	Immunology workshop	Discussion Room

Tuesday 6th November 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Pejman Rohani University of Cambridge Epidemiology tutorial	Room 1

Friday 9th November 2001
14:00 to 15:30	Ecology workshop	Discussion Room

Monday 12th November 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Immunology workshop	Discussion Room
15:00 to 17:00	Epidemiology workshop	Discussion Room

Tuesday 13th November 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Nick Barton University of Edinburgh Genetic relationships in a spatially continuous population	Room 1

Thursday 15th November 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Joel Peck University of Sussex Sex causes altruism	Room 1

Friday 16th November 2001
14:00 to 16:00	Nigel John Burroughs University of Warwick Cell-cell interactions and signalling in immunology	Room 2

Tuesday 20th November 2001
10:00 to 11:00	ICB organisers meeting	Discussion Room
14:00 to 16:00	Vincenzo Capasso University of Milan Tutorial on stochastic modelling	Room 1

Wednesday 21st November 2001
13:30 to 14:30	Andreas Deutsch Modeling pattern formation in interacting cell systems with cellular automata	Room 1
14:00 to 16:00	Ecology workshop	Discussion Room

Thursday 22nd November 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Mark Chaplain University of Dundee Continuum-discrete models of tumour-induced angiogenesis and invasion	Room 1

Monday 26th November 2001
14:00 to 15:00	David Sumpter Tutorial: The organisation of insect societies	Room 2

Tuesday 27th November 2001
11:00 to 17:30	Theoretical immunology discussion	Discussion Room
11:30 to 13:00	Epidemiology workshop	Room 2
14:00 to 15:00	Francis Ratnieks University of Sheffield Organisation of complex systems: social foraging	Room 2

Wednesday 28th November 2001
13:30 to 14:30	From individual to population models in chemotaxis	Discussion Room

Thursday 29th November 2001
14:00 to 15:00	The evolution of co-operation and conflict	Room 2

Monday 3rd December 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Stephen Martin University of Sheffield Epidemiology working group	Room 2

Tuesday 4th December 2001
14:00 to 16:00	Social insects working group: discussion of robustness	Room 2

Wednesday 5th December 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Soldier aphids - the evolution of co-operation in a clonal animal	Room 2

Thursday 6th December 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Spatiotemporal spread of the GB foot and mouth disease epidemic and implications for control	Room 1
16:00 to 17:30	Social insects working group: discussion of robustness	Room 1

Thursday 13th December 2001
14:00 to 15:00	Meeting with ICB Organisers and the Wellcome Trust	Discussion Room

From individual to collective behaviour in biological systems

Organisers

Philip Maini University of Oxford
Hans Othmer University of Minnesota
Tim Pedley University of Cambridge
Brian Sleeman University of Leeds

Speakers

Nick Barton University of Edinburgh
Nigel John Burroughs University of Warwick
Vincenzo Capasso University of Milan
Mark Chaplain University of Dundee
Eric Cytrynbaum University of Utah
Andreas Deutsch
Robert Dillon Washington State University
Dirk Drasdo Max-Planck-Institut für Biogeochemie, Jena
Edith Geigant University of Bonn
Stephen Grand Aalborg Universitet
Robert Hinch Aalborg Universitet
Peter Hunter University of Auckland
Johannes Jaeger
Ray Keller University of Virginia
Paul Kulesa CALTECH (California Institute of Technology)
Matthieu Louis
Stephen Martin University of Sheffield
Nick Monk University of Sheffield
Hans Othmer University of Minnesota
Kevin Painter
Joel Peck University of Sussex
Pedro Ponte Castaneda University of Pennsylvania
Francis Ratnieks University of Sheffield
Pejman Rohani University of Cambridge
Faustino Sanchez-Garduno Aalborg Universitet
Sima Setayeshgar
David Sumpter

Show All

From individual to collective behaviour in biological systems

Programme theme

Preprints

Pattern formation in reaction-diffusion models with nonuniform domain growth

Mathematical modelling of tumour angiogenesis and the action of angiostatin as a protease inhibitor

Making sense of complex phenomena in biology

A mathematical model for germinal centre kinetics and affinity maturation

Workshops

Vertical integration in biology: from molecules to organisms

Gene networks; bridging the gap between bioinformatics and mathematical modelling

Pattern formation by swimming micro-organisms and cells

The mathematics of social insects

Immunology, ecology and epidemiology (main themes)

Seminars

Organisers

Speakers

Supported By

From individual to collective behaviour in biological systems

Programme theme

Preprints

Pattern formation in reaction-diffusion models with nonuniform domain growth

Mathematical modelling of tumour angiogenesis and the action of angiostatin as a protease inhibitor

Making sense of complex phenomena in biology

A mathematical model for germinal centre kinetics and affinity maturation

Workshops

Vertical integration in biology: from molecules to organisms

Gene networks; bridging the gap between bioinformatics and mathematical modelling

Pattern formation by swimming micro-organisms and cells

The mathematics of social insects

Immunology, ecology and epidemiology (main themes)

Seminars

Organisers

Speakers

Supported By

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