Applied Math Mathematical Biology Seminar | Gonca Erdemci-Tandogan, From Organ Formation to Material Properties

MC 6460

Speaker

Gonca Erdemci-Tandogan, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Western University

Title

Collective Cell Movements: From Organ Formation to Material Properties

Abstract

Collective cell movements play a pivotal role in guiding embryonic development, wound repair and disease progression such as cancer metastasis. The coordination of these cellular behaviours is influenced by mechanical forces. Additionally, many tissues exhibit soft and deformable characteristics. This deformability is shown to be important for proper embryonic development. However, experimental exploration of cell and tissue mechanics within developing organisms remains to be challenging and costly. In this talk, I will discuss our research developing computational and theoretical models to investigate (1) tissue material properties as a collective response of cells and (2) the mechanisms underpinning collective cell migration during fruit fly heart formation.