Special UBM Distinguished Colloquium joint with Biology

Title: Marrying Mathematical and Experimental Biology

 Abstract: It is now widely appreciated that mathematical modeling and computer simulations can be useful tools for interpreting biological data and designing experiments. Indeed, Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley used these tools in the early 1950s in their pioneering work that determined the biophysical basis of the neuronal action potential, ushering in the era of modern neuroscience. Since then, modeling and computer simulations have had a place in many neuroscience investigations, and are being widely used in other physiological studies. My lab, in collaboration with others, has sought to marry these techniques to experimental biology in a seamless way. In this presentation I describe two examples of hybrid modeling/experimental studies. In one example, we use real-time data on the electrical activity of electrically excitable cells to calibrate mathematical models, and then use the models to make predictions which are subsequently tested on the same cell, overcoming some of the problems related to cellular heterogeneity. In the second example, we use a model in conjunction with a microfluidics system to test the ability of a simple liver-like negative feedback system to synchronize the pulsatile secretion of insulin from pancreatic islets of Langerhans. These examples show how a hybrid approach can provide information that neither purely theoretical nor purely experimental approaches can provide.