CellMechBio: the influence of cellular mechanobiology on organ development. Through a set of collaborative interdisciplinary application projects, with open scientific questions, this project aims to develop cutting edge mechanobiological mathematical models of organ development and function.
The expected outcomes of this project are a step-change in the fidelity of multicellular models of three-dimensional tissues and the scientific investigations into the mechanobiological processes regulating ....CellMechBio: the influence of cellular mechanobiology on organ development. Through a set of collaborative interdisciplinary application projects, with open scientific questions, this project aims to develop cutting edge mechanobiological mathematical models of organ development and function.
The expected outcomes of this project are a step-change in the fidelity of multicellular models of three-dimensional tissues and the scientific investigations into the mechanobiological processes regulating organ development, currently not possible, that these models support.
In addition to significant benefits from advances in fundamental mathematical and biological knowledge, this project plans to develop a mechanobiological modelling framework made available to the wider scientific community by an open source release.Read moreRead less
New mathematical approaches to learn the equations of life from noisy data. New mathematical models and mathematical modelling methods must be continually developed to interpret emerging biotechnology experiments. Contemporary research in tissue engineering involves growing tissues on 3d-printed scaffolds to mimic constrained in vivo geometries. Previous mathematical models of tissue growth focus on computationally expensive discrete mathematical models that are poorly suited for parameter infe ....New mathematical approaches to learn the equations of life from noisy data. New mathematical models and mathematical modelling methods must be continually developed to interpret emerging biotechnology experiments. Contemporary research in tissue engineering involves growing tissues on 3d-printed scaffolds to mimic constrained in vivo geometries. Previous mathematical models of tissue growth focus on computationally expensive discrete mathematical models that are poorly suited for parameter inference and experimental design. This project will deliver and deploy high-fidelity, computationally efficient moving boundary continuum mathematical models that will: (i) predict/interpret new experiments, (ii) provide quantitative insight into biological mechanisms, and (iii) enable reproducible experimental design.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100650
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$443,237.00
Summary
Behind the barrier: using mathematics to understand the neuro-immune system. This project aims to develop new mathematical methods to study healthy immune cell regulation in the brain and movement across the Blood Brain Barrier. The project expects to develop novel deterministic and stochastic mathematics that captures the stochasticity of immune cells in the Central Nervous System (brain and spine) and form the foundation of a new field of mathematical research: mathematical neuroimmunology. Ex ....Behind the barrier: using mathematics to understand the neuro-immune system. This project aims to develop new mathematical methods to study healthy immune cell regulation in the brain and movement across the Blood Brain Barrier. The project expects to develop novel deterministic and stochastic mathematics that captures the stochasticity of immune cells in the Central Nervous System (brain and spine) and form the foundation of a new field of mathematical research: mathematical neuroimmunology. Expected benefits of this project include new mathematical tools, biological insight, and strong interdisciplinary collaborations. From this project, Australia will be placed at the forefront of mathematical research in neuroimmunology, and there will be a complete understanding of homeostasis of the neuro-immune system. Read moreRead less
Mathematical models to connect experiments across biological scales. Understanding the function and development of organs is crucial to our understanding of fundamental biology. This project aims to address our inability to connect and understand behaviour between simple and complex biological experiments. This project expects to develop new mathematical theory and models to connect experiments across scales and complexity. Expected outcomes of this project include a new mathematical modelling f ....Mathematical models to connect experiments across biological scales. Understanding the function and development of organs is crucial to our understanding of fundamental biology. This project aims to address our inability to connect and understand behaviour between simple and complex biological experiments. This project expects to develop new mathematical theory and models to connect experiments across scales and complexity. Expected outcomes of this project include a new mathematical modelling framework, and advances in understanding in both biology and mathematics. This should provide significant benefits as using mathematical modelling to understand experimental connections will decrease the time- and financial- costs of performing experiments, while increasing efficiency and insight.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL220100005
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,350,000.00
Summary
CellMaps for cell fate decision making systems. The cell is the fundamental unit exhibiting the hallmarks of life. The cell is also a fantastically intricate and complex system: its behaviour is shaped by molecular networks and processes that regulate cellular physiology, and the response of the cell to its environment. This Laureate Fellowship aims to describe and make sense of this complexity mathematically. At this sub-cellular level stochasticity and complex non-linear feedbacks are all perv ....CellMaps for cell fate decision making systems. The cell is the fundamental unit exhibiting the hallmarks of life. The cell is also a fantastically intricate and complex system: its behaviour is shaped by molecular networks and processes that regulate cellular physiology, and the response of the cell to its environment. This Laureate Fellowship aims to describe and make sense of this complexity mathematically. At this sub-cellular level stochasticity and complex non-linear feedbacks are all pervasive. Building on recent advances in mathematics, statistics, theoretical physics, and data science will result in mathematical models of cells, CellMaps, that will generate mechanistic insights into the fundamental dynamical processes underlying cell fate decision making and differentiation. Read moreRead less
Unpacking the immune system with applied mathematics. This project aims to model immune interactions across cells and structures spanning scales of nanometres to millimetres. It expects to develop innovative mathematical insights, improve our understanding of immunology, and consolidate collaborations with top American and European laboratories and groups. Expected outcomes include cutting-edge techniques for multiscale biological modelling and improved prediction and analysis of immune dynami ....Unpacking the immune system with applied mathematics. This project aims to model immune interactions across cells and structures spanning scales of nanometres to millimetres. It expects to develop innovative mathematical insights, improve our understanding of immunology, and consolidate collaborations with top American and European laboratories and groups. Expected outcomes include cutting-edge techniques for multiscale biological modelling and improved prediction and analysis of immune dynamics. The project should provide benefits to industries where highly organised behaviours are important, for example those interested in robot swarming, optimal transportation, and epidemic management. It should also benefit Australian students and researchers with novel overseas training opportunities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100097
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$389,670.00
Summary
Mathematical models for actin scavenging and biofilm removal. The project aims to develop mathematical models for actin scavenging and biofilm removal, processes that combine to alleviate tissue damage and inflammation. Actin scavenging eliminates the protein F-actin which is released during cell death, but this process is not fully-understood. Biofilms are colonies of micro-organisms, for example bacteria, that are highly resistant to antimicrobial treatment. This project expects to generate ne ....Mathematical models for actin scavenging and biofilm removal. The project aims to develop mathematical models for actin scavenging and biofilm removal, processes that combine to alleviate tissue damage and inflammation. Actin scavenging eliminates the protein F-actin which is released during cell death, but this process is not fully-understood. Biofilms are colonies of micro-organisms, for example bacteria, that are highly resistant to antimicrobial treatment. This project expects to generate new knowledge, using an innovative combination of mathematical modelling and cell biology experiments. Expected outcomes include new theory and software, yielding the benefits of increased understanding of cell biology, and potential to enhance development of smart materials that eliminate biofilms.Read moreRead less
Weather, climate & geological risks: derivative pricing & risk management. This project aims to create new mathematical models and approaches for the fair valuation and hedging of financial derivatives, tackling funding for climate change adaptation and catastrophic disaster risk management. Businesses use derivatives to strategically mitigate financial losses from adverse climate conditions and geological hazards. Expected outcomes are improved models for weather variables and hazard risk asses ....Weather, climate & geological risks: derivative pricing & risk management. This project aims to create new mathematical models and approaches for the fair valuation and hedging of financial derivatives, tackling funding for climate change adaptation and catastrophic disaster risk management. Businesses use derivatives to strategically mitigate financial losses from adverse climate conditions and geological hazards. Expected outcomes are improved models for weather variables and hazard risk assessment; richer methodology from the fusion of mathematical techniques, data analysis and earth sciences perspectives; and quantitative solutions to pressing societal concerns. Significant benefits also include highly qualified personnel training and international collaboration on common multidisciplinary research priorities.Read moreRead less
Optimising disease surveillance to support decision-making. COVID-19 has demonstrated the critical role of epidemic data and analytics in guiding government response to pandemic threats, reducing disease and saving lives. The demand for epidemic analytics for response to threats of national significance will only grow. The goals of this project are to 1) determine the combination(s) of surveillance methods that provide the most useful data for epidemic analysis and 2) translate these findings in ....Optimising disease surveillance to support decision-making. COVID-19 has demonstrated the critical role of epidemic data and analytics in guiding government response to pandemic threats, reducing disease and saving lives. The demand for epidemic analytics for response to threats of national significance will only grow. The goals of this project are to 1) determine the combination(s) of surveillance methods that provide the most useful data for epidemic analysis and 2) translate these findings into the blueprint for a next-generation infectious disease surveillance system for Australia. We will use a simulation-evaluation approach, coupling methods from infectious disease modelling with those from information theory optimal design. Outcomes will enable more tailored and effective pandemic response.Read moreRead less
Understanding the mechanisms that inhibit and promote biofilm expansion. Yeasts have been used for biotechnology throughout recorded history. They are important human pathogens, and major experimental models of eukaryotic cells. Although yeasts are some of the most studied organisms in biology, their modes of colony biofilm formation are not fully understood. Methods to investigate the environmental and genetic processes that drive colony biofilm formation will be developed in this proposed pro .... Understanding the mechanisms that inhibit and promote biofilm expansion. Yeasts have been used for biotechnology throughout recorded history. They are important human pathogens, and major experimental models of eukaryotic cells. Although yeasts are some of the most studied organisms in biology, their modes of colony biofilm formation are not fully understood. Methods to investigate the environmental and genetic processes that drive colony biofilm formation will be developed in this proposed project. They will provide a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that inhibit and promote biofilm formation, and colonial morphology in the different modes of growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, with implications for this and other biofilm-forming yeasts of biotechnological or medical importance.Read moreRead less