ZIH Colloquium: "Quantitative approaches to multi-scale modelling of epithelial morphogenesis"

Recent years have seen a rise in quantitative data for many biological applications. These new data can lead to challenges at each stage of the scientific method. We need to design quantitative hypotheses through mathematical models, make quantitative experimental predictions, devise methods for quantitative data analysis, and design methods for quantitative inference using models and data. Here, I will talk about how Chaste, an open-source software library for multi-scale modelling in biology and physiology, can facilitate this quantitative transition for the integrative analysis of morphogenesis in epithelia, one of the major tissue types in animals. At the example of tissue size control in the Drosophila embryonic epidermis I show how quantitative multi-scale models can be designed to make experimentally testable predictions. I further present a novel algorithm for robust cell tracking in live-imaging microscopy videos of epithelial tissues that illustrates how graph theoretic concepts may be used to overcome challenges in quantitative data analysis. Finally, I discuss a Bayesian method for estimating mechanical parameters of cell-based models from imaging data that allows quantification of parameter uncertainty.

Jochen studied for his Diplom degree in physics at the Technical Universities of Dresden and Munich, and at the University of Alberta, Canada. He conducted his doctoral studies at the Mathematical Biology group at the University of Oxford and is now a postdoc in Nancy Papalopulu's lab at the University of Manchester. Jochen applies quantitative computational approaches to understand multi-scale interactions and timing during embryonic development.