The innate immune response to respiratory fungal infections: a systems modeling approach

Meeting Details

For more information about this meeting, contact Donna Cepullio, Wenrui Hao, Jessica Conway, Leonid Berlyand, Andrew Belmonte, Timothy Reluga, Vladimir Itskov, Alberto Bressan, Pierre-Emmanuel Jabin.

Speaker: Reinhard Laubenbacher, University of Florida

Abstract: Invasive aspergillosis is among the most common fungal infections. Healthy hosts clear inhaled spores without developing disease, but individuals with impaired immunity are susceptible to a life-threatening respiratory infection that can then disseminate to other organs. The increasing use of immunosuppressive therapies in transplantation and cancer has dramatically increased suffering and death from this infection, and this trend is expected to continue. Current therapeutic approaches have been focused primarily on the pathogen, but a better understanding of host defenses in this infection may lead to the development of new treatments. This talk presents a multi-scale computational model that can serve as a simulation tool of the innate immune response to invasive aspergillosis, and the exploration of host-centric therapeutic approaches. It has led to insights into the role hemorrhaging in response to invasion of the fungus into the blood stream. The talk will also briefly touch on the broader issue of “digital twins” as tools in personalizing medical care. Increasingly complex mathematical models raise new challenges in model design and validation.

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Room Reservation Information

Room Number: 114 McAllister

Date: 10/27/2021

Time: 11:15am - 12:15pm