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Current projects and Grants:

• BIMOD (head V. Volpert) 2010-2014, funded by ANR
• STOCHAGENE (head O. Gandrillon) 2011-2015, funded by ANR.
• Predivac, joint program with Inserm, Altrabio and Cosmo (Head J. Marvel at Inserm) 2013-2015, ANR (RPIB program)
• Modelling Leukemia (head T. Lepoutre), Inria Partnership program.
• Euromediterranean 3+3 "Mathematical Models and Methods in Cell Dynamics" 2012-2015
• Prion and Alzheimer (L. Pujo-Menjouet)
• Mathematical modelling of megakaryopoiesis and applications to platelet related diseases (French-Canadian grant for resarch)(L. Pujo-Menjouet)
• POLONIUM (L. Pujo-Menjouet)

Research themes

• Normal hematopoieisis
  Hematopoiesis is a complex process that begins with primitive hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and results in formation of mature cells: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Blood cells are produced in the bone marrow, from where mature cells are released into the blood stream. Modelling normal hematopoiesis will allow us to explore the dynamical appearance of the various cell types, originating from the stem cell compartment, through the bone marrow development up to the blood stream.
• Erythropoiesis
  The study of the red blood cell lineage will involve different scale levels, from the molecular one, with the effects of the hormones on the surface and internal parts of the cell, and the red branch population in its whole with all the interactions taken into account. In order to couple the cellular behaviour to explicit molecular events, we will describe the events through a molecular network. Cellular regulatory processes will be described through the use of nonlinear ordinary differential systems. The complexity of the model we want to analyze will appear through the nature of feedback loops that will result in strong nonlinearities.
• Immune response
  The production of T-cells during an immune response represents an important activity of the lymphoid branch, part of leucopoiesis (white blood cell production). By considering molecular events leading to cell activation when encountering a virus, we will propose a multi-scale model of the immune response.
• Platelet lineage
  Thrombopoiesis, the process of production and regulation of platelets, is similar to erythropoiesis although important differences are observed. These two processes have an immature progenitor (MEP) in common. Platelets are involved in blood coagulation, and can be the source of blood diseases (thrombopenia, thrombocytosis). Deterministic models, in the form of structured transport partial differential equations, will be proposed to describe platelet dynamics, through the description of HSC, megakaryocytic progenitor and megacaryocyte (platelet precursor) compartments.
• Pathological hematopoeisis
• Hematopoiesis is a complex process which has a vital importance for the organism. Its malfunctioning can result in numerous blood diseases including leukemia (characterised by uncontrolled proliferation of blood cells). In the case of leukemia, the equilibrium between different cell types or between self-renewal, differentiation and apoptosis of certain cells can be violated. We will model development and dynamics of leukemia taking into account disequilibrium of regulatory networks or feedbacks.
• Treatment:
  We are working on the modelling of pharamcological treatments (in words: drugs). For instance,we study chronotherapeutic treatment, where the time of administration is considered as being very important.
• Determining cell renewal
  We have developed a mathematical method to estimate cell turnover in slowly renewing biological systems. Age distribution of DNA can be estimated from the integration of radiocarbon derived from nuclear bomb testing during 1955-1963. For slowly renewing tissues, this method provides a better estimate of the average age of the tissue than direct estimate from the bomb curve. Moreover, death, birth and turnover rates can be estimated.