Workshop 1: Cell and Tissue Movement (September 15-19, 2008)
Organizers: Leah Edelstein-Keshet, Thomas Hillen, Stan Maree, and Veronica Grieneisen
Cell movement is fundamental to embryogenesis and developmental biology, and is hence an excellent core topic for this special emphasis year. Not only is cell motion important in morphogenesis and formation of the organism but also, it plays a central role in wound healing, immune surveillance, and invasive malignant growth in cancer. In this workshop, we plan to bridge the scales between the subcellular molecular mechanisms implicated in cell motility, the motion and behaviour of single eukaryotic cells, the repertoires of cell aggregates and clusters, and the level of multicellular tissue dynamics, morphogenesis, and mechanics. This workshop will form a bridge between some of the more specific aspects of workshops featured during this year, and, while avoiding overlaps or repetition, will revisit and amplify on aspects of these sister workshops in which cell motion is key.
The workshop will showcase the experimental biology alongside recent advances in mathematical modeling and computational biology. We plan to start at the lowest, microscopic scale, and proceed in a hierarchical way through to the macroscopic tissue level. One of our goals will be to summarize the advances that have already been made, in both experimental and computational methods. We will, where possible, illustrate the diversity of techniques that have been used to approach the underlying biological issues, including classical mathematics (partial and ordinary differential equations) as well as a variety of computational methods. Another, equally important goal will be to identify and highlight new fundamental questions in biology where mathematical, statistical, and computational techniques could prove helpful.
