Seminar Description
"Dynamics and Heterogeneity in Cell Fate Decisions"
Dr. Amy Brock
Wyss Institute for Biologically-Inspired Engineering and
Harvard Medical School, Systems Biology
January 27, 2010
12:45-1:45 pm
101 Stafford Hall
Summary
I will discuss the formalism of mammalian cell phenotypes as attractor states and present experimental evidence that supports the relevance of attractor state transitions in development. The concept of cell states, as "clouds" in state space, points to the importance of considering heterogeneity as a property that may have functional significance. In particular, we are examining how the dynamics of state transitions and the heterogeneity of cell populations are critical parameters in cancer progression.
Speaker Bio
Amy Brock completed training in biology and biomedical sciences at MIT (BS) and Harvard University (PhD). She has conducted postdoctoral research on non-genetic heterogeneity in tumorigenesis and differentiation with Prof Sui Huang (now at the University of Calgary, Institute for Biocomplexity and Informatics). Currently she is a postdoctoral fellow at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University where she is investigating the dynamics of gene expression networks in cancer progression and treatment.
Sponsoring Organizations
Support for this lecture series is provided by the Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
