BME Seminar Series: Dr. Chuan Xue - The Ohio State University

Abstract: 

"Multiscale Modeling of Axonal Cytoskeleton Dynamics and Axonal Transport in Diseases"

The shape and function of an axon is dependent on its cytoskeleton and the active transport of various cargoes along cytoskeletal polymers. In many neurological disorders, cargoes  accumulate abnormally in axons, leading to axonal focal swelling and degeneration. In some of these diseases, striking radial segregation of different cytoskeletal polymers, microtubules and neurofilaments, occurs before visible axonal swelling. I will present stochastic multiscale models that explained these phenomena and generated testable predictions.

Bio:

Chuan Xue is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at the Ohio State University. Her research area is mathematical biology, in particular, multiscale methods and models in cell and developmental biology. She also has a strong interest in the public understanding of the role of mathematics in biological sciences. She got her BS in 2003 in Computational Mathematics from Peking University in China, and her PhD in Mathematics in 2008 from University of Minnesota. After graduation, she came to the NSF-funded Mathematical Biosciences Institute as a postdoc fellow, and started her position in the Department of Mathematics in 2011 as an assistant professor. Chuan Xue received an NSF CAREER Award in 2016 and a PECASE award in 2019.