How do cells in the embryo know when to stop dividing and become nerve cells? This is the question to be investigated by Ruth Diez del Corral as she takes up a prestigious Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship in mathematical biology.
Dr Diez del Corral will develop a mathematical model that simulates the complex process known as vertebrate neurogenesis, that ensures the generation of nerve cells at the right time and place during the life of the embryo.
Dr Diez del Corral will acquire training in mathematics and will use these mathematical modelling techniques to represent cells as units that, depending on their environment, can either divide giving rise to two unspecialised daughter cells or not divide and become nerve cells.
Mathematical equations that describe how multiple factors, such as chemical signals from neighbouring cells influence these two possible outcomes will be proposed.
Dr Diez del Corral will then return to Dr Kate Storey’s laboratory to carry out experiments to test predictions of her models. The continuous feedback between experimental results and mathematical modelling should help identify additional interactions and provide a better understanding of neurogenesis.
Dr Diez del Corral will work under the joint supervision of Dr Kate Storey in the division of cell and developmental biology in the school of life sciences and Professor Mark Chaplain in The SIMBIOS Centre, division of mathematics.
Dr Storey said "I am looking forward to working closely with Ruth on this project. This is a timely initiative as we have increasing amounts of data on how specific genes act during neurogenesis and it is now important to address how so many different factors interplay to generate the nervous system."
Professor Chaplain added "I am very excited about this new interdisciplinary project and working together with Ruth and Kate. Interdisciplinary research between biologists and mathematicians not only throws new light on the biological system but also provides mathematicians with challenging new problems."
Dr Diez del Corral came to the UK from Spain and worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Dr Storey in Oxford before joining her in Dundee in 2000 where she has identified mechanisms that trigger the process of neurogenesis in the spinal cord.