Quantitative Immunology

May 16, 13.30-14.30, Room Afrika

Organizers

• Aridaman Pandit (UMC Utrecht),
• Rob J de Boer (Utrecht University)

Target group 

Computational biologists working in Immunology

Background

The immune system is composed of a large variety of cell types circulating the body and communicating with each other via a vast array of signaling molecules. These complex interactions allow the immune system to distinguish between proteins on foreign pathogenic agents and on our own cells. The timing and magnitude of immune responses is determined by multiple factors and interactions that occur at molecular and cellular levels. Proper understanding of such a complex system requires quantitative approaches. Despite tremendous progress in the field of immunology, we typically lack the mechanistic insights required for developing predictive quantitative models for several immunological problems. Advent of high-throughput methods and state-of-the-art molecular biological techniques has enabled the immunologists to generate large, quantitative, and temporal data sets on the dynamics of immune responses, the lymphocyte repertoire, regulation of immune cells, etc. Accurate interpretation of these large data sets requires development and application of sophisticated bioinformatics methods and mathematical models.

Objectives

A quantitative approach to immunology needs to integrate a wide range of biological data to increase our understanding of immunological processes at different levels of organization. Development of quantitative methods and bioinformatic tools is crucial for translating basic research in immunology to practical clinical applications like disease (re)classification, and treatments. In this workshop, we aim to bring together scientists from different parts of Netherlands to discuss cutting-edge research and future directions in the field of quantitative immunology.

Programme (preliminary)

13.30-13.35: Welcome and Introduction – Aridaman Pandit and Rob de Boer

13.35-13.45: Modeling T cell repertoire dyanimcs - Peter de Greef

13.45-13.55: Omics of immune cell subsets - Abhinandan Devaprasad

13.55-14.05: High-throughput analysis of dendritic cells - Arjan Boltjes

14.05-14.15: Classifying immune cell types and determining their kinetics – Rob J de Boer

14.15-14.30: General discussion