Biological and statistical physics group

Biological and Statistical Physics Discussion group meetings (BSDG) create a platform to share our research interests in Theoretical Biology and learn from each other through biweekly meetings.

Our meetings consist of a presentation by a guest speaker, followed by an informal discussion, giving us a chance to explore the topic presented, exchange ideas and network. Lunch is usually offered at the end of the session.

BSDGs are attended by colleagues coming from several research groups, mainly BSS, POM, DAMTP, the Department of Chemistry, the Stem Cell Institute and several others where methods of statistical physics are employed in the Theoretical Biology arena.

The meetings are jointly organised by Will Grant and Alex Leonard. Please e-mail either [email protected] or [email protected] to be added to the mailing list and receive more information or if you would like to volunteer to give a talk. Below a list of previous BSDG talks is presented.

Upcoming talks

Previous talks: 2017

February 09 Dr. Richard Clarke (University of Cambridge) Dielectrophoresis of Biomolecules & Elasticity of Cells.
March 02 Dr. Chistopher J. Russo (MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology) Determining and approaching the physical limits of electron cryomicroscopy in biology
March 09 Dr. David Huggins (University of Cambridge)Structure and Function of Water In Biomolecular Systems
March 23 Dr. Martin Hemberg (Sanger Institute) Computational methods for analysis of single-cell RNA-seq and cancer mutability
June 1 Dr. Julia Gog (DAMPT) Hunting for Viral Packaging Signals
June 8 Dr. Rosana Collepardo (Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability) Multiscale Modelling of Chromatin Nanostructure and its Epigenetic Regulation
November 2 Dr. Marianne Bauer (LMU) Survival Strategies in Spatial Public Goods Games
November 16 Dr. Joel Peck (Department of Genetics) What is Adaptation, and How Should it be Measured?
December 7 Prof. Michele Vendruscolo (Department of Chemistry) Systematic development of small molecules against Aβ aggregation

Previous talks: 2016

January 21 Dr Daniel Cole Free energy methods for computer-aided drug design
February 4 Dr Philip Greulich Tissue renewal by stochastic stem cell fate dynamics
February 18 Prof Mike Cates Directed Assembly of Active Colloidal Devices
March 3 Dr Otti Croze The statistical physics of swimming algae
April 28 Dr Steffen Rulands Universality in the clonal dynamics in developing tissues
May 6 Prof Jean-Francois Joanny (Institut Curie) Activity induced phase separation
May 19 Dr Elsen Tjhung (DAMTP) Cell crawling, cell swimming and cell tumbling
May 26 Dr Alessio Zaccone Lattice dynamics and vibrational excitations in random networks and disordered crystals
June 9 Dr Carl D Modes (Rockefeller University, New York) Extracting Hidden Hierarchies in Complex Spatial Biological and Physical Networks
October 13 Dr Raphael Blumenfeld (BSS) A model for controlled force transmission in the cytoskeleton

Previous talks: 2015

January 22 Chris Forman (University of Cambridge) An energy landscape study highlights the well engineered thermodynamics of collagen.
February 05 Professor Eugene Terentjev ( Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge) "Rotary molecular motors"
February 19 Lorenzo Di Michele Ligand-mediated interactions between lipid vesicle: tuneable porosity and negative thermal expansion in lipid-DNA phases.
March 05 Francois Peaudecerf (University of Cambridge) Algal-bacterial interactions at a distance
April 29 Dr Edouard Hannezo (University of Cambridge) Introduction to the Modelling of Forces in Biological Tissues
May 14 Dr Sebastian Ahnert ( TCM, Cavendish Laboratory) A tractable genotype-phenotype map for biological self-assembly
May 28 Kirsty Wan (DAMTP) “Powers of two (flagella)"
October 15 Sarah Teichmann Evolution, classification and dynamics of protein complexes.
October 29 David Jorg Wave Phenomena during Embryonic Patterning
November 12 Prof David Holcman ( IBENS Ecole Normale Superieure) Analysis of stochastic polymer models and reconstruction of chromatin organization in cell nucleus
November 26 Dr Pietro Cicuta Physical views of bacterial cells: size regulation in E.Coli

Previous talks: 2014

May 01 Dr John Biggins The Mechanical Basis of Morphogenesis
May 15 Breanndan S.B. O-Conchuir & Tine Curk Biological and Statistical Physics discussion group (BSDG) 15/05/2014
May 22 Prof. Julia Yeomans, University of Oxford Active nematics and topological defects
June 05 Dr Pietro Cicuta (University of Cambridge) The synchronised state of actively beating cilia: collective dynamical patterns emerge out of noise.
June 12 Otti Croze Bacterial migration in porous media and the new biological statistical physics that describes it
October 09 Dr Edouard Hannezo (University of Cambridge) "Mechanical instabilities of epithelial tissues”
October 23 Emma Towlson (University of Cambridge) The 'richness' of brain organisation: What a large-scale human brain functional network has in common with the C. elegans neuronal connectome and beginning to describe brain disorders in terms of disordered networks
November 06 Pablo F. Damasceno ( University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA) What the Bees Know and What They Don’t Know. Meanders on Shape, Packing and Self-Assembly in Nature
December 11 Sinisa Vukovic Neurotransduction mechanism via GPCRs: alpha helix, the smallest spring in nature?”