Early mammalian development following fertilisation is an idiosyncratic process that is thought to depend on cell position and orientation.  Stem cell systems are exquisitely controlled through feedback mechanisms. Elucidating answers to either of these problems involves the application of population biology ideas and mathematical models.

Mammalian blastocyst cell organisation

Early mammalian development involves the formation of different cell types (trophectoderm, inner cell mass) we are interested in how this occurs through the geometrical and spatial orientation of cells. Mathematical models predict that differences in cell allocation to trophectoderm or inner cell mass are determined by cell position more than cell geometry.
 
 

Stem cell systems

Stem cell systems are thought be to be highly regulated. However, understanding the feedback processes and mechanisms involves an appreciation for both deterministic and stochastic processes. We are interested in exploring how different forms of uncertainty affect stem cell population dynamics.
 
 

Leukaemia and stem cell dynamics

As part of our broader goal to understand the dynamics of stem cell systems, understanding how and why these systems malfunction is a goal. Focusing on the hametopoietic system and leukaemia we are interested in developing mathematical models to predict and understand how important evolutionary and ecological principles are important in the dynamics of these sorts of cancers.

Selected Publications

Park, D.S., M. Robertson-Tessi., K.A. Luddy, P.K. Maini, M.B. Bonsall, R.A. Gatenby and A.R.A. Anderson (2019) The goldilocks window of personalized chemotherapy: getting the immune response just right. Cancer Research, 79, 5302-5315. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-3712

Park, D.S., A.A. Akuffo., D.E. Muench, H.L. Grimes, P.K. Epling-Burnette, P.K. Maini, A.R.A. Anderson and M. B. Bonsall (2019) Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential and its impact on patient trajectories after stem cell transplantation. PLoS Computational Biology, 15, e1006913. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006913

Mangel, M., M.B.Bonsall and A. Aboobaker (2016) Feedback control in planarian stem cell systems. BMC Systems Biology 10, 17. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12918-016-0261-8

Szekely, T., K. Burrage, M. Mangel and M.B. Bonsall (2014) Stochastic dynamics of interacting haematopoietic stem cell niche lineages. PLoS Computational Biology, 10, e1003794. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003794