Title: Phase separation, activity, and the nucleolus

Abstract: I will describe recent work in which we use computational descriptions of large-scale nuclear architecture to model how the nucleolus assembles. These models combine relatively new concepts in the description of cell-scale biological structuring –  activity and phase separation – illustrating how the overlap of physics, biology, and computation can suggest fresh approaches to old problems. This is work with Tejal Agarwal at Ashoka.

About the Speaker: Gautam I Menon is a Professor of Physics and Biology at Ashoka University. Prior to joining Ashoka, he was a Professor at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai.  He completed a BSc. (Hons) in Physics at St. Stephens College, Delhi,  an MSc from IIT Kanpur, and a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Following post-doctoral work in Mumbai and Vancouver, he joined the Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He works on a number of biophysical problems including nuclear architecture, axonal transport, collective cell migration, and cell adhesion, all in the general field of mechanobiology. The modeling of infectious disease and its implications for public policy is a long-standing interest of his, while the use of machine learning methods in clinical contexts is a recent one.