Wed 15 May 13:15: Seminar – Population nutrition: upstream/downstream
All are invited to the MRC Epidemiology Seminar:
Population nutrition: upstream/downstream
Professor Pablo Monsivais, Washington State University
This hybrid seminar will be held in Institute of Metabolic Science seminar rooms 1 & 2, Level 4, Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ , and online.
If attending online, please register at https://mrc-epid.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIqf-moqD4iEtOSgtPiXJanoInqfmdkhdG2#/registration
About this talk In this presentation, Professor Monsivais will review two interdisciplinary projects aimed at identifying population-level determinants of diet and one project developing heart-healthy ready meals for use in research studies and interventions.
About Professor Monsivais After doctoral and post-doctoral training in neuroscience and physiology at the University of Washington and University College London, Professor Monsivais returned to the University of Washington to retrain in nutrition and public health in 2004.
Between 2007 and 2011, he conducted behavioral and epidemiologic research on food choices, diet and health at the UW’s Centre for Public Health Nutrition in the School of Public Health, first as a postdoctoral fellow in behavioral sciences and then as an acting assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology. From 2011 to 2017 he was Senior University Lecturer at the University of Cambridge Centre for Diet and Activity Research where he led a research group focused social and behavioral epidemiology.
He is currently an Associate Professor at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine based at Washington State University.
- Speaker: Speaker to be confirmed
- Wednesday 15 May 2024, 13:15-14:15
- Venue: MRL meeting rooms 1 & 2, Level 4 Institute of Metabolic Sciences, Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre (ATC) .
- Series: MRC Epidemiology and CEDAR Seminars; organiser: Paul Browne.
Mon 10 Jun 14:30: Cortical microtubules shape cell walls to support a wide range of functions
Abstract
How plants fulfill their life functions is to a large extend dictated by the presence of cell walls. These cell walls can adopt a wide range of structures, depending on the local functional demands—from stretching in a particular direction to reconciling contradictory requirements. A beautiful example of the latter is found in the primary xylem. Different patterns of local cell wall reinforcements are used at different stages of development, in line with different mechanical requirements. The required anisotropic material properties largely derive from the location and orientation of the constituting cellulose microfibrils. These, in turn are deposited along the cortical microtubule cytoskeleton.
I will describe how we use the banded pattern in protoxylem as a model system for complex cell wall patterns. For this, we use a diversity of modelling approaches involving both cortical microtubules and Rho-of-Plants (ROP) proteins. These deeply conserved small GTPases can establish membrane zones with different properties, leading to local differences in microtubule dynamics. Microtubules, however, do not simply “read out” this pattern. The final pattern arises from the mutual interations of both systems. This work not only helped us understand how these beautiful and functionally important patterns are formed, but also brought to light important insights on 1) how the precise distribution of microtubule nucleation plays a critical role in maintaining homogeneous microtubule arrays and, hence, cell wall integrity; and 2) how microtubule flexibility affects the array’s potential to adopt complex patterns and align in the first place.
I will also show some stunning pictures from recent field trips to South Africa and the USA to study/hunt for some very special plants: the few known species in the world that display dimorphic enantiostyly, which we use as a model system for the de novo establishment a left-right asymmetry. These plants demonstrate that rich biodiversity we still have in our world is an incredibly valuable resource even for fundamental cell and developmental biology, though challenging and challenged.
- Speaker: Eva Deinum
- Monday 10 June 2024, 14:30-15:30
- Venue: in person at Sainsbury Laboratory and online.
- Series: Morphogenesis Seminar Series; organiser: Jia CHEN.
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Mon 13 May 14:30: Mechanisms and mechanics of morphogenesis
Abstract:
How organ shape and therefore function is encoded by the genome remains a major unresolved question in biology. All tissues arise from simple precursors or primordia. These become patterned through transcriptional changes within individual cells, and we have made much progress in untangling gene regulatory networks responsible, especially more recently using single-cell genome-wide approaches. How such patterning is then turned into physical changes at the molecular, cell and tissue scale is much less understood. This is the focus of my lab’s research, the emergence of shape and function, primed by cell-specific transcriptional changes, but implemented through highly coordinated changes of many cells in conjunction. Although transcriptional and biochemical control operates in individual cells, coordination works at the tissue scale, and we so far only understand small aspects of it. Because organ shape is critical for organ function, defects in morphogenesis lead to severe diseases including spina bifida or polycystic kidney disease. We want to understand the importance of cytoskeletal crosstalk, the coordination of events and forces within a tissue, and the role of spatial and temporal control by upstream transcriptional regulation. To do so, we utilise a highly tractable model process in Drosophila and combine it with a powerful organoid culture models of human tissue morphogenesis.
Zoom link: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/87939943699 (Meeting ID: 879 3994 3699)
- Speaker: Katja Röper, University of Cambridge
- Monday 13 May 2024, 14:30-15:30
- Venue: In person at Bryan Matthews Room, PDN and online.
- Series: Morphogenesis Seminar Series; organiser: Jia CHEN.
Mon 27 May 19:30: CSAR lecture: Physics IS Enhancing Machine Learning
Moving away from accurate-but-wrong predictions for bridges, wind turbines… and the climate. Machine Learning algorithms are revolutionising many scientific fields by enabling the development of models from observations – so called data-driven. However, in many engineering applications, we usually have access to a limited amount of “informative” data – hindering the applicability data-driven approaches – but a great deal of physics understanding and domain knowledge! This opens up opportunities to combine physics and domain knowledge with data-driven approaches for guiding high-consequence decision making in engineering applications.
This seminar will give a brief non-technical introduction to Machine Learning and an overview of recent research work carried out within the Data, Vibration and Uncertainty Group (https://sites.google.com/view/dvugroup) focusing on developing Physics Enhanced Machine Learning (PEML) strategies in applied mechanics. It will showcase recent PEML methods developed for tackling challenges in wind turbines, bridges and structural joints, and ongoing efforts for investigating climate repair strategies.
Open to all. More details including a link for booking, here.
- Speaker: Dr Alice Cicirello, Data, Vibration and Uncertainty Group, Department of Engineering
- Monday 27 May 2024, 19:30-21:00
- Venue: Location: Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Churchill College, and Zoom.
- Series: Cambridge Society for the Application of Research (CSAR); organiser: John Cook.