ICT for Life Sciences Forum - "Reverse Engineering the Immune System"

The next ICT for Life Sciences Forum will be presented by Prof. Phil Hodgkin on "Reverse Engineering Immune Systems"

Reverse Engineering the Immune System

ABSTRACT

Our understanding of the immune response owes a great debt to the extraordinary clonal selection theory developed by Melbourne scientist Macfarlane Burnet 50 years ago.  In this lecture I will present the key historical advances that led to the theory and then fast forward to the current day to review the challenges we now face to make the theory quantitative and amenable to computer simulation.  

I will present evidence that engineering concepts have a role in understanding the construction of the system, particularly the use of randomising mechanisms to allocate similar cells to different strategies for eliminating pathogens.  I hope to convince you that the immune system is a highly accessible model for computational biologists, where advances can inform cell and molecular biology at the cutting edge, while having important implications for improving human health.

About Phil Hodgkin

BIO

Phil Hodgkin is an ‘experimenting’ theoretical immunologist who aims to create in silico models of immune responses that accommodate the large body of immune knowledge.

 Professor Hodgkin studied Microbiology at the University of Western Australia and obtained his PhD from the John Curtin School for Medical Research in Canberra in 1985. He then undertook postdoctoral studies at the DNAX Research Institute in Palo Alto California where he broadened his initial interests in cytokine production from T cells to the regulation of antibody production and isotype switching by B lymphocytes.  In 1990 he returned to Australia to take up a Research Fellowship at the John Curtin School of Medical Research and in 1995 he was appointed Group leader at the Centenary Institute for Medical Research.  In 2000 he moved again to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne and in 2006 he was appointed Head of the Immunology Division.

Professor Hodgkin’s research interests have centred upon the regulation of fate decisions by lymphocytes.  While at DNAX he helped develop a new view of T-B cell collaboration that accommodated the generation of a novel T cell surface stimulatory ligand, later shown to be the CD40 ligand. In recent years his laboratory has concentrated on quantitative studies of T and B cell growth and differentiation.  His laboratory has established new techniques that complement the applications of CFSE fluorescent division tracking introduced by Lyons and Parish.  Using these methods his laboratory discovered division-linked differentiation by lymphocytes where a program of cellular changes can unfold as cells divide.  His laboratory is currently developing the Cellular Calculus, a suite of analytical tools for exploring the impact of cytokines and genetic changes on lymphocyte growth, survival and differentiation.  He was President of the Australasian Society of Immunology (ASI) from 2005 to 2006. 

Tuesday 8th May
5pm – 6pm Refreshments
6pm – 7pm Lecture

The Auditorium, Melbourne Brain Centre, The University of Melbourne, Cnr. Royal Parade & Genetics Lane, Parkville VIC 3052

For more information  please visit -  http://ict4lifesciences.org.au/

To register click here