NIMBioS Seminar Series

In conjunction with the interdisciplinary activities of the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), a seminar series on topics in mathematical biology will be hosted at NIMBioS every other Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. (unless otherwise noted) in the Hallam Auditorium, Room 206, Claxton Building, 1122 Volunteer Blvd. Seminar speakers will focus on their research initiatives at the interface of mathematics and many areas of the life sciences. Light refreshments will be served in Room 205 beginning 30 minutes before each talk. Faculty and students from across the UT community are welcome to join us.

Speaker: Dr. Nourridine Siewe, NIMBioS postdoctoral fellow
Time/Date: Tuesday, September 6, 2016, 3:30*
Location: Room 206, Claxton Building, 1122 Volunteer Blvd.
Topic: Granuloma formation in leishmaniasis: A mathematical model
Abstract: Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. The two common forms of leishmaniasis are cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL). VL is the more severe of the two and, if untreated, may become fatal. The hallmark of VL is the formation of granuloma in the liver or the spleen. In this talk, I present a mathematical model of the evolution of granuloma in the liver. The model is represented by a system of partial differential equations and it includes immigration of cells from the adaptive immune system into the granuloma; the rate of the influx is determined by the strength of the immune response of the infected individual. It is shown that parasite load decreases as the strength of the immune system increases. Furthermore, the efficacy of a commonly used drug, which increases T cell proliferation, increases in a person with stronger immune response. The model also provides an explanation of why, in contrast to humans, mice recover naturally from VL in the liver.

*Join us for refreshments at 3 p.m.

Seminar Flyer (pdf)

For more information about this and other NIMBioS Seminars, visit /seminars.

NIMBioS
1122 Volunteer Blvd., Suite 106
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-3410
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From 2008 until early 2021, NIMBioS was supported by the National Science Foundation through NSF Award #DBI-1300426, with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.