BME Student Seminar, Wednesday, June 8, 12pm

Please join us on Wednesday, June 8 at 12:00pm in ERB 203 for our next BME Student Seminar. Our goal is to create a laid-back environment where BME grad students can share their research and get feedback from their peers. Meghan Thommes will be presenting “Controlling Microbial Growth Dynamics through Environmental Manipulation.” Come by to learn about her work, provide feedback, and (of course) enjoy lunch with your peers!

When: Wednesday, June 8, 12:00-1:00pm

Where: ERB 203

Meghan Thommes, Segre Lab

Controlling Microbial Growth Dynamics through Environmental Manipulation

Microbial communities are ubiquitous in nature and play a role in modulating human health and disease, yet understanding the interactions between microbial species remains a challenge. Flux balance analysis (FBA), a mathematical model that simulates how nutrients flow through a metabolic network, can quantitatively predict microbial growth as well as how metabolites mediate some microbial interactions. In conjunction with experimental data, we can predict and measure the effect of metabolite perturbations on microbial interactions. Thus, we can control the growth dynamics of the microbial community by defining which interactions are present.