Location
MC 5501
Speaker
Luca Scardovi, University of Toronto
Title
Collective Dynamics in Diffusive and Quorum-Sensing Networks
Abstract
Interconnected cellular systems often face a fundamental tradeoff between coordination and differentiation. In some regimes, coupling promotes synchronized collective behavior; in others, it supports stable heterogeneous patterns, graded responses, and decision transitions at the population level. In this talk, I present an input-output framework to analyze how these behaviors emerge in networks coupled through diffusion or quorum sensing. I will focus on networks of feedback motifs, including switches and oscillators, that arise in models of multicellular gene-regulatory circuits. The goal is to infer collective behavior from the dynamics of isolated units together with the structure of their interconnection. I will present results on global convergence to equilibria, analytical conditions for synchronization, and a characterization of clustering and multistability using continuous piecewise-affine approximations. The results explain how coupling shapes oscillatory synchronization, graded responses, all-or-none activation, and heterogeneous population-level behaviors, and they show quantitative agreement with recent in vivo measurements for the Pseudomonas aeruginosa LasI/LasR quorum-sensing circuit.
Bio
Luca Scardovi received the “Laurea” degree and PhD degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering from the University of Genoa, Italy, in 2001 and 2005 respectively. He held research associate positions at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Liège, Belgium (2005-2007) and at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University (2007-2009). From 2009 to 2011 he was an Assistant Professor at the Technische Universität München (TUM), Munich, Germany. Since 2011 he has been with the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada, where he is currently an Associate Professor. In 2018 he was a visiting scientist at the Biocore Institute at INRIA (Sophia Antipolis, France) and a visiting professor at the University of Cagliari (Italy). His research interests are in dynamical systems with special emphasis in the analysis and control of emergent dynamics in interconnected systems.