Launched in 2022, Dynamics Club is a UCLA-based forum for junior scientists to discuss nonlinear dynamics in biology and physiology. Starting from 2024, this is also the home for the Interoception Dynamics Affinity Group.

Our monthly seminars are mostly on Zoom, with hybrid access to in-person events. Campus visits are made possible by the Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology (IBP), Institute for Quantitative and Computational Biosciences (QCBio) and Brain Research Institute (BRI).

Currently, we have 340 members. If you’re new, sign up here!

   

Job opportunities:

   

Key References (PDFs are available online):

Modeling Life by Alan Garfinkel, Jane Shetsov and Yina Guo (Teaching Materials)

   

Dynamics Club in October:

Forces that shape the embryo: Mechanical control of gastrulation dynamics

Speaker: Dr. Paolo Caldarelli (Postdoctoral Researcher; Caltech)

Date and Time: October 27 (Monday) at 9am Pacific Time / 12noon Eastern Time / 5pm Central European Time

Virtual Event on Zoom (Meeting ID: 987 1110 7169; Passcode: 197917)

Abstract:
Gastrulation marks one of the most dynamic transitions in animal development, transforming a simple epithelial sheet (the epiblast) into the body plan of the embryo. How such complex organization emerges robustly from local cellular behaviors remains a central question in developmental biology. In this talk, I will discuss how mechanical feedback governs this process across species. Using the chick embryo as a model, we showed that tissue-scale forces are sufficient to self-organize the body axis—even when the embryo is bisected—demonstrating that mechanics alone can drive large-scale pattern formation. Building on these findings, I will present new results from mouse embryos imaged using multiview light-sheet microscopy, which reveal the three-dimensional coordination of epiblast morphogenesis during mammalian gastrulation. Together, these studies uncover conserved physical principles that couple tissue mechanics with fate specification during early development.

DynamicsClub

   

Scheduled Sessions:

Date Topic Speaker(s)
Nov Neurophysiological principles of reward Dr. Annie Park
(Oxford University)
Dec Robust and resource-optimal dynamic pattern formation of Min proteins in vivo Michael Sandler
(UCSD)
2025 Longitudinal monitoring of developmental plasticity in the mouse auditory cortex Dr. Megan Kirchgessner (NYU)

Past Events in 2025:

Date Topic Speaker(s) Materials
Jan 22 Imaging cAMP Signaling Dynamics in the Heart: Exploring Sympathetic Responses in Real Time Jessica Caldwell, PhD (UC Davis) Pubmed
Feb 7 State-Dependent Taste Modulation: Mechanisms of Sodium Appetite and Tolerance Yameng Zhang (Oka Lab; Caltech) Pubmed
Mar 5 Cell signaling in “4D”: Dynamic p53 post-translational modifications regulate cell fate Dan Lu, PhD (Harvard Medical School) Pubmed
Mar 20 Exploring the developmental roles of glia in the heart Sarah Light, PhD (Notre Dame) Pubmed
Apr 30 Detecting patterns and disruptions in spontaneous physiological fluctuations in the kidney using MRI Edwin Baldelomar, PhD (WashU) Pubmed
May 7 Sleep is for brain cleaning: investigating drivers of the glymphatic system Natalie Hauglund, PhD (Oxford) Pubmed
Jun 12 Mechano-Electro-Chemical Coupling in Neuromodulation and Neuronal Injury Casey Adam, DPhil (Purdue) Link
Aug 12 Sleep microstructure organizes memory replay Wenbo Tang, PhD (Cornell) Pubmed
Aug 21 Genetic and Molecular Strategies for Unraveling Sensory Circuit Development David YC Chen, PhD (Temple) Pubmed
Sep 16 Investigating the Bistability in Coordinated Oscillations of Pancreatic Islets Nicole Bruce, PhD (University of Tennessee) Pubmed

   

Past Events in 2024

Past Events in 2023

Past Events in 2022