Dr. Neda Bagheri
Adjunct Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University
Lab Website
Modeling toward systems medicine: predicting how context impacts cell population dynamics
Thursday, Nov. 21, 2 PM, RRI 101
Abstract: Computational models are essential tools that can be used to simultaneously explain and guide biological intuition. My lab employs machine learning, dynamical systems, and agent-based modeling strategies to help explain biological observations, and to uncover fundamental principles that drive both individual cellular decisions and cell populations. We are interested in the inherent multiscale nature of cells—how “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”—and in predicting cell population dynamics from the composition of simpler biological modules to advance basic science and medicine.
Monday, November 18, 2019
HEB Seminar | Dr. Caitlin O'Connell
Dr. Caitlin O'Connell
Post-Doctoral Scholar/Teaching Fellow, USC, Dept. of Biological Sciences
Research Profile
The Costs and Benefits of Sociality Explored in the Semi-Solitary Orangutan
Monday, Nov. 18, 12 PM, AHF 153 (Torrey Webb Room)
Abstract: Social relationships are an integral part of primate life for humans and nonhumans
alike, but the extent to which a primate devotes its time and energy to
socializing can vary tremendously within and between species. With a semisolitary
social system, orangutans present a unique opportunity to examine both
social and solitary conditions within a single population to test predictions
regarding the costs and benefits of sociality. While the socioecological model
predicts that orangutans display reduced sociality compared to other apes, this
should affect individuals differently across life history stages. This research
examines the variation in social behavior among age-sex classes in wild
orangutans using social interactions, behavioral and hormonal indicators of stress,
and intestinal parasites to evaluate the reasons orangutans socialize or remain
solitary at different times. Adolescent females were found to socialize the most, to
suffer the lowest physiological cost from socializing, and to employ unique
behavioral strategies to mitigate potentially risky social situations. My findings
highlight the adolescent period as behaviorally distinct and socially rich for
female orangutans who face unique challenges as members of a socially dispersed
species with high levels of sexual coercion.
Post-Doctoral Scholar/Teaching Fellow, USC, Dept. of Biological Sciences
Research Profile
The Costs and Benefits of Sociality Explored in the Semi-Solitary Orangutan
Monday, Nov. 18, 12 PM, AHF 153 (Torrey Webb Room)
Abstract: Social relationships are an integral part of primate life for humans and nonhumans
alike, but the extent to which a primate devotes its time and energy to
socializing can vary tremendously within and between species. With a semisolitary
social system, orangutans present a unique opportunity to examine both
social and solitary conditions within a single population to test predictions
regarding the costs and benefits of sociality. While the socioecological model
predicts that orangutans display reduced sociality compared to other apes, this
should affect individuals differently across life history stages. This research
examines the variation in social behavior among age-sex classes in wild
orangutans using social interactions, behavioral and hormonal indicators of stress,
and intestinal parasites to evaluate the reasons orangutans socialize or remain
solitary at different times. Adolescent females were found to socialize the most, to
suffer the lowest physiological cost from socializing, and to employ unique
behavioral strategies to mitigate potentially risky social situations. My findings
highlight the adolescent period as behaviorally distinct and socially rich for
female orangutans who face unique challenges as members of a socially dispersed
species with high levels of sexual coercion.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Green Corps is hiring for next year’s class of environmental organizers!
Green Corps is looking for college graduates who are ready to take on the biggest environmental challenges of our day.
Our year-long program puts you in an intensive classroom training with people like Bill McKibben and other guest speakers. Then, you move to hands-on experience working with groups like Oceana, Corporate Accountability, The Wilderness Society and Mighty Earth to fight climate change, protect public lands and reform our food system. And when you graduate we will help you find a career with one of the nation’s leading environmental and social change groups.
The planet needs all the help it can get, especially now with so many protections under attack. To win now and build a strong foundation for lasting progress, we need people who know how to organize: to run organizations and campaigns that will inspire the support and action we need to save our planet.
We’re accepting the top 25 out of more than 1000 applicants for our 2020-2021 program. If you’re passionate about the environment and ready to learn and practice the craft of organizing, click here to apply.
Green Corps’ year long program begins in August 2019 with Introductory Classroom Training, and continues with field placements in multiple locations across the U.S. Candidates must be willing to relocate.
For more information, click here.
Our year-long program puts you in an intensive classroom training with people like Bill McKibben and other guest speakers. Then, you move to hands-on experience working with groups like Oceana, Corporate Accountability, The Wilderness Society and Mighty Earth to fight climate change, protect public lands and reform our food system. And when you graduate we will help you find a career with one of the nation’s leading environmental and social change groups.
The planet needs all the help it can get, especially now with so many protections under attack. To win now and build a strong foundation for lasting progress, we need people who know how to organize: to run organizations and campaigns that will inspire the support and action we need to save our planet.
We’re accepting the top 25 out of more than 1000 applicants for our 2020-2021 program. If you’re passionate about the environment and ready to learn and practice the craft of organizing, click here to apply.
Green Corps’ year long program begins in August 2019 with Introductory Classroom Training, and continues with field placements in multiple locations across the U.S. Candidates must be willing to relocate.
For more information, click here.
Deepfake Detection: Methods for Combatting and Detecting Deepfakes
Elizabeth Galoozis, Associate University Librarian and Head, Information Literacy
Curtis Fletcher, Director, Ahmanson Lab
Samir Ghosh, Project Coordinator, Ahmanson Lab
November 12, 3:00-4:30pm
Ahmanson Lab | LVL 301 (Map)
RSVP for this event
The term deepfake, a combination of “deep learning” and “fake,” designates a new class of hyper-realistic, fake media - images, video, and audio generated leveraging machine-learning algorithms to, primarily, superimpose faces and/or voices on people in order to manufacture their saying and doing things they have not said or done.
While there are real artistic benefits to such techniques, much has recently been made about the great social harm the technology can unleash in an increasingly polarized and fragmented social media ecosystem.
In this workshop, we’ll discuss with participants the troubling nature of truth in an era of deepfakes. We’ll survey the history of visual evidence and media manipulation; introduce participants to current large-scale media forensic efforts to combat deepfakes; talk about the methods, techniques, and technology behind the creation of deepfakes; and, finally, offer some best practices for researching and spotting AI-generated fake media online.
Curtis Fletcher, Director, Ahmanson Lab
Samir Ghosh, Project Coordinator, Ahmanson Lab
November 12, 3:00-4:30pm
Ahmanson Lab | LVL 301 (Map)
RSVP for this event
The term deepfake, a combination of “deep learning” and “fake,” designates a new class of hyper-realistic, fake media - images, video, and audio generated leveraging machine-learning algorithms to, primarily, superimpose faces and/or voices on people in order to manufacture their saying and doing things they have not said or done.
While there are real artistic benefits to such techniques, much has recently been made about the great social harm the technology can unleash in an increasingly polarized and fragmented social media ecosystem.
In this workshop, we’ll discuss with participants the troubling nature of truth in an era of deepfakes. We’ll survey the history of visual evidence and media manipulation; introduce participants to current large-scale media forensic efforts to combat deepfakes; talk about the methods, techniques, and technology behind the creation of deepfakes; and, finally, offer some best practices for researching and spotting AI-generated fake media online.
QCB Colloquium | Dr. Alison Hill
Dr. Alison Hill
Research Fellow, Harvard Univ., Prog. for Evolutionary Dynamics
Research Profile
Countdown to a cure? Mathematical approaches to designing better HIV treatments
Thursday, Nov. 14, 2 PM, RRI 101
Abstract: HIV infection can be effectively treated with combination antiretroviral therapy, but new classes of drugs are needed to permanently cure the infection. In this talk I will discuss our work developing mathematical and computational methods to better understand the mechanisms of HIV persistence and evaluate new methods to cure the disease. Firstly, I will show how models have helped us understand how much the pool of latent virus must be reduced to delay or prevent the viral rebound when drugs are stopped. We explain why existing anti-latency drugs have had negligible benefit, and why we have seen multiple cases of apparent (but false) “cures” of HIV. Secondly, I will discuss how longitudinal studies of viral genetics during antiretroviral therapy can be used to help elucidate the dominant cause of long-term persistence. This includes a new method we have developed to quantify how important the proliferation of latently-infected cells is to driving long-term viral persistence, which also suggests that therapies to target this process could be highly effective. Finally, I will describe a series of studies using new immunotherapy strategies to cure HIV, and our work using mathematical models to uncover the mechanism of action of these interventions. Overall, this work highlights the role that simulation, analysis, and inference using mathematical models can play in informing new potentially-curative treatments for HIV.
Research Fellow, Harvard Univ., Prog. for Evolutionary Dynamics
Research Profile
Countdown to a cure? Mathematical approaches to designing better HIV treatments
Thursday, Nov. 14, 2 PM, RRI 101
Abstract: HIV infection can be effectively treated with combination antiretroviral therapy, but new classes of drugs are needed to permanently cure the infection. In this talk I will discuss our work developing mathematical and computational methods to better understand the mechanisms of HIV persistence and evaluate new methods to cure the disease. Firstly, I will show how models have helped us understand how much the pool of latent virus must be reduced to delay or prevent the viral rebound when drugs are stopped. We explain why existing anti-latency drugs have had negligible benefit, and why we have seen multiple cases of apparent (but false) “cures” of HIV. Secondly, I will discuss how longitudinal studies of viral genetics during antiretroviral therapy can be used to help elucidate the dominant cause of long-term persistence. This includes a new method we have developed to quantify how important the proliferation of latently-infected cells is to driving long-term viral persistence, which also suggests that therapies to target this process could be highly effective. Finally, I will describe a series of studies using new immunotherapy strategies to cure HIV, and our work using mathematical models to uncover the mechanism of action of these interventions. Overall, this work highlights the role that simulation, analysis, and inference using mathematical models can play in informing new potentially-curative treatments for HIV.
Monday, November 4, 2019
MEB Seminar | Dr. Jeff Bowman
Dr. Jeff Bowman
Assistant Professor, UCSD, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Integrative Oceanography Division
Lab Website
Trials, tribulations, and transcriptomes: Understanding microbial ecosystem processes along the western Antarctic Peninsula
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 12 PM, AHF 153 (Torrey Webb Room)
Abstract: The western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a dynamic marine environment defined by contrasting onshore and offshore water masses, rapidly shifting sea ice conditions, and strong season cycles of light and temperature. The region is well known for its charismatic megafauna, but the charisma of its marine microbes is just beginning to emerge. I’ll describe some of our efforts over the last several years to understand the dynamics of marine microbial communities along the WAP, culminating in our ongoing effort to use metatranscriptomics to understand the carbon and energy transfers associated with the winter-spring seasonal transition. This transitional period is dominated by lipid metabolisms among a surprisingly diverse group of marine phytoplankton. Given the variability in timing of the annual sea ice retreat, and the importance of lipid-rich phytoplankton in regional foodwebs, we anticipate implications for metabolic energy budgets across trophic levels.
Assistant Professor, UCSD, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Integrative Oceanography Division
Lab Website
Trials, tribulations, and transcriptomes: Understanding microbial ecosystem processes along the western Antarctic Peninsula
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 12 PM, AHF 153 (Torrey Webb Room)
Abstract: The western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a dynamic marine environment defined by contrasting onshore and offshore water masses, rapidly shifting sea ice conditions, and strong season cycles of light and temperature. The region is well known for its charismatic megafauna, but the charisma of its marine microbes is just beginning to emerge. I’ll describe some of our efforts over the last several years to understand the dynamics of marine microbial communities along the WAP, culminating in our ongoing effort to use metatranscriptomics to understand the carbon and energy transfers associated with the winter-spring seasonal transition. This transitional period is dominated by lipid metabolisms among a surprisingly diverse group of marine phytoplankton. Given the variability in timing of the annual sea ice retreat, and the importance of lipid-rich phytoplankton in regional foodwebs, we anticipate implications for metabolic energy budgets across trophic levels.
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