Graduate Student Seminar

23 October 2026

Title TBD

Shane Rankin

Abstract pending

Advisor: Wee Liang Gan

04 December 2026

Title TBD

Thoon Nguyen

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Advisor: Dr. Jia Gou

20 November 2026

Title TBD

Hannah Styer

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13 November 2026

Title TBD

Satish Chandran

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Advisor: Dr. Yiwei Wang

06 November 2026

Title TBD

Guojing Tang

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Advisor: Dr. Jose Gonzalez

30 October 2026

Title TBD

Jade Leathrum

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Advisor: Dr. Michel Lapidus

23 October 2026

Title TBD

Shane Rankin

Abstract pending

Advisor: Wee Liang Gan

16 October 2026

Positive cones in (real) Lie groups

Luis Palacios Vela

We'll cover what are real Lie groups, some definitions regarding restricted roots, and their role in what a positive structure is. First, we will look at the inspiration of these constructions and they have been extended to semisimple real Lie groups. We'll cover some examples, and we will give arguments why these can't appear in the context of complex Lie groups.

Advisor: Brian Collier

09 October 2026

Multiscale Computational Modeling in the Context of Drosophila Wing Disc Eversion and Fungal-Bacterial Interactions

Ethan Nowaski

Robust organ formation depends on the coordinated regulation of cellular mechanics, yet how mechanobiological processes such as controlled cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion, actomyosin contractility, membrane stiffness, and internal pressure interlink to generate an organ’s architecture remains poorly understood. Here, we systematically investigated underlying mechanobiology principles using Drosophila wing disc eversion, the metamorphic conversion of a larval epithelial sac into a functional wing. By integrating quantitative imaging experiments with a novel nonlinear physics informed multiscale computational model (PIMM), we extensively tested the roles of individual drivers of tissue morphogenesis, as well as their different combinations. Our analysis suggests the following multi-level sequence of morphogenetic processes defining early wing metamorphosis. First, the localized detachment of the basal ECM at the dorsal-ventral compartment boundary initiates folding and boundary forces rotate and shear the wing disc pouch to guide the proximal ends of the pouch together. Then, patterned actomyosin contractility closes the fold. Also, cell rearrangements promote tissue elongation all through the process. In sum, these results show how organogenesis relies on a combination of subcellular force-generation mechanisms and tissue-level deformations. The developed integrated, data-calibrated nonlinear PIMM framework can serve as a versatile general tool for investigating the mechanisms of tissue development and regeneration.

Advisor: Dr. Mark Alber

02 October 2026

Lightning Talks