Postdoc opportunity : mathematic modeling of adipocyte size dynamics

[audebertc]

Environment
<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Project</span>: MATIDY – Mathematical model of Adipose TIssue DYnamic
MATIDY project is funded by ANR (JCJC CE45).
<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Supervision</span>: Chloe Audebert (Sorbonne Université) will co-supervise the post-doc, with Magali Ribot (Univ. Orléans), Romain Yvinec (INRAE) and Hedi Soula (Sorbonne Université). The post-doctoral researcher will be welcomed in the Laboratory of Computational and Quantitative Biology (LCQB), Sorbonne Université, Campus Jussieu, 7-9 Quai Saint Bernard, 75005 Paris, France.
<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Duration</span>: 1 year contract starting in 2022 with potential additional year.

Post-doctoral work description
In this project, we propose to develop mathematical models that describe the adipocyte size dynamics, based on exchange of lipids. We will study adipocyte size dynamics with mathematical models based on biological data (already available). In particular, we are interested in various health conditions (healthy, obesity, kidney diseases). One important feature will be to account for and describe the heterogeneity between cells.
One option to take into account the heterogeneity in our model is to allow parameters of an ordinary differential equation (ODE) to vary from one cell to another. Each cell is represented by the evolution of its radius that follows an ODE with cell-dependent parameter values. All cell dynamics are coupled by the external lipid quantity.
Another option is to consider a partial differential equation (PDE) structured by size (Soula et al., 2013) with an additional diffusion term. Both modeling options have advantages and drawbacks that will be evaluated.

The post-doctoral researcher will work on the comparison of both models through numerical and/or theoretical studies. They will also study the link between the parameter(s) fluctuation in the ODE and the diffusion term in the PDE.
The post-doctoral researcher will also work on the development of parameter estimation procedure for the available data. The different methodologies to perform parameter estimation will have to be explored. In addition, model selection will be required in order to best represent the experimental data.
The final goal is to explain biological data with the developed mathematical model(s) through parameter values studies.

Soula H.A., Julienne H., Soulage C.O., and Geloen A. (2013) Modelling adipocytes size distribution.
Journal of theoretical biology, 332, 89-95.

Skills
The post-doctoral researcher will have experience in mathematical modeling in biology, numerical methods and/or parameter estimation methods. We are looking for a researcher who wishes to work on real data in interaction with biologists and medical doctors.

How to apply
Please send to chloe.audebert@sorbonne-universite.fr the application form that you can find here :
https://www.ljll.math.upmc.fr/audebertc/matidy.html

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