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Hi there! 
1. What topics do you have some expertise in and would you be willing
to help others learn them?


I'm half Belgian, half Chinese; born in Canada; grew up in the Washington DC area (Maryland side!).  Studied biology as an undergrad - my senior project was a morphometrics study on the ecology and evolution of snails from Lake Tanganyika, East Africa.  Last year, I studied early tetrapod fossils in Cambridge, for my masters degree in palaeontology.  As a grad student at Duke, I'm currently working on modeling cell signaling networks, with the idea of getting a better understanding of the function and evolution of these networks.  The real goal is to develop a more general understanding of the cumulative effects of feedback interactions (which seem to be everywhere in the network I study!) over long periods of time.  How do complex interactions happening at the scale of minutes or hours connect to long term physiological outcomes (disease progression)?  how do they connect to evolutionary change in network structure?  I'm really looking forward to learning about modeling complex systems in physiology and evolution (among other things!) this summer.  
My background is in ecology, evolution and paleontology.  In terms of technical skills I know a little about MatLab and Mathematica and would be happy to teach others what I know.  


I am a fan of Gregory Bateson. 


I rode horses and swam competitively in college, but now enjoy swimming and yoga.
2. What do you want to learn at the CSSS?


Looking forward to meeting you in Beijing!!
Although my background is in evolution, I am interested in development and physiology as well.  I want to learn how to connect biological events at different timescales, using mathematical models. 


Vivi
 
3. Do you have any projects or research interests that would benefit
from an interdisciplinary approach?
 
Getting more specific about answer to Q2, for example, how does one connect an acute model of insulin signaling (in response to a meal) to long term physiological states (healthy vs. diabetic)?  It is known that reduced insuling signaling reduces aging -- so how does acute insulin signaling relate to aging and senescence?  How do you connect biochemical/molecular data to gene and protein microarray data to epidemiological data, and how do you build a mathematical model that can inform, and be constrained by, these different types of data?
 
 
4. Do you have any ideas for what sort of project you would like to do
work on with other CSSS students this summer?
 
Something in physiology, metabolism, evolution...
A project that explores how not only the state, but the very structure, of a dynamic system depends on its previous states. 
 
 
5. Suppose you could travel one-hundred years in the future and ask
researchers any three questions. What would those questions be?
 
What is consciousness?
 
Have we come up with a better way of understanding and thinking about _causality_ in biology, in a way that can accommodate _minds_, and circular chains of causes? 
 
Can a more sophisticated biological understanding of causality help us solve human problems -- socio-economic and political problems, problems of cultivating natural resources without destroying them?

Revision as of 15:09, 13 June 2008

1. What topics do you have some expertise in and would you be willing to help others learn them?

My background is in ecology, evolution and paleontology. In terms of technical skills I know a little about MatLab and Mathematica and would be happy to teach others what I know.


2. What do you want to learn at the CSSS?

Although my background is in evolution, I am interested in development and physiology as well. I want to learn how to connect biological events at different timescales, using mathematical models.


3. Do you have any projects or research interests that would benefit from an interdisciplinary approach?

Getting more specific about answer to Q2, for example, how does one connect an acute model of insulin signaling (in response to a meal) to long term physiological states (healthy vs. diabetic)? It is known that reduced insuling signaling reduces aging -- so how does acute insulin signaling relate to aging and senescence? How do you connect biochemical/molecular data to gene and protein microarray data to epidemiological data, and how do you build a mathematical model that can inform, and be constrained by, these different types of data?


4. Do you have any ideas for what sort of project you would like to do work on with other CSSS students this summer?

Something in physiology, metabolism, evolution... A project that explores how not only the state, but the very structure, of a dynamic system depends on its previous states.


5. Suppose you could travel one-hundred years in the future and ask researchers any three questions. What would those questions be?

What is consciousness?

Have we come up with a better way of understanding and thinking about _causality_ in biology, in a way that can accommodate _minds_, and circular chains of causes?

Can a more sophisticated biological understanding of causality help us solve human problems -- socio-economic and political problems, problems of cultivating natural resources without destroying them?

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