Research

Microbiology

Aging

We approach aging research by combining physics-style theory, experiment, large scale medical datasets and 'connecting the dots' between the massive amount of published research across organisms.

Hormones

Hormone circuits in textbooks and math models are expected to work on the timescale of minutes to hours - the lifetime of the hormones, and on the timescale of a day due to circadian rhythm. We added to this picture interactions that provide a timescale of weeks-months. These are well characterized changes in the functional mass of the hormone glands (eg growth of the thyroid or adrenal gland). This growth is due to the growth-factor effects of the hormones in each pathway. Although characterized, these effects have not been considered on the system level.

Immunology

We study immune circuits mathematically. This includes a theory for endocrine autoimmune disease based on the hypothesis that T cells weed out hypersecreting secretory cells. We also address the question of autoimmune flares by modeelign them as an exciatbel system. We are currently working on the systems understanding of cancer immunotherapy and the pathogen response of the immune system.

Tissue Dynamics

Organs are made of cells that work together and communicate with each other in order to achieve joint functions. In order to make sense of their complexity requires principles that can guide our understanding of tissue biology. We ask questions about the general design principles of organs and tissues.

Simplifying Inflammation and Fibrosis

Fibrosis -excess scarring- is a condition that cuts across medicine, causes many diseases, and has no cure. It is a complex process with many cell types and molecules. To understand fibrosis, we developed a simple mathematical model of the relevant cell populations (macrophges, myofibroblasts).