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 345 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 September:

Capturing spatiotemporal organization of tissue-wide Ca2+ activity in skin vasculature

Speaker: Anush Swaminathan (MD-PhD Candidate; Yale University)

Date and Time: September 9 (Wednesday) at 1pm Pacific Time / 4pm Eastern Time

Virtual Event on Zoom (Meeting ID: 932 4198 3467; Passcode: 290991)

Abstract:
Ca2+ signaling and its regulation are important for endothelial cell (EC) function and signaling. Yet, the spatiotemporal organization of Ca2+ activity and its regulation across a vascular plexus is poorly understood in an in vivo mammalian context. To overcome this gap in knowledge, we developed an intravital imaging approach to resolve Ca2+ activity with single-cell resolution in skin vasculature of adult mice via multiphoton microscopy. Here, we tracked thousands of Ca2+ events in the skin capillary plexus during homeostasis and observed signaling heterogeneity between ECs, with just over half displaying Ca2+ activity at any given time. Longitudinal tracking of the same mice revealed that the same capillary ECs maintain Ca2+ activity over days to weeks. Interestingly, activity dynamics, such as frequency and event duration, are not conserved at a single-cell level but are maintained at an EC population level. Molecularly, conditional deletion of the gap junction protein Connexin 43 (Cx43cKO) in ECs leads to a subset of ECs displaying sustained Ca2+ activity, biasing signaling dynamics of the whole network toward chronically persistent activity over time. Sustained capillary Ca2+ activity results in vascular permeability and flow dysregulation. Last, through pharmacological targeting of known agonists/antagonists, we showed that inhibition of L-type Voltage Gated Ca2+ channels non-cell-autonomously restores Ca2+ activity, blood flow, and barrier function in Cx43cKO mice. Collectively, our work provides insight into the spatial and temporal characteristics, extent, and regulation of Ca2+ activity in skin capillaries of live mice.

DynamicsClub

   

Scheduled Sessions:

Date Topic Speaker(s)
Sep Sleep deprivation on cerebral vasomotion and brain pulsations Dr. Sara M. U. Larsen (University of Copenhagen)
2026 Neurophysiological principles of reward Dr. Annie Park
(Oxford University)
2026 How Neural Heterogeneity Controls Network Function Dr. Megan Kirchgessner (NYU)

Past Events in 2026:

Date Topic Speaker(s) Materials
Jan 20 Microdomain Metabolism in Pacemaker Myocytes: The Ca2+ Clock Drives the ATP Clock Dr. Manuel Munoz Camus (UC Davis) Pubmed
Feb 13 Pulsed stimuli enable p53 phase resetting to synchronize single cells and modulate cell fate Dr. Harish Venkatachalapathy (UMN) Pubmed
Mar 6 Pulsed stimuli enable p53 phase resetting to synchronize single cells and modulate cell fate Dr. Richard Gast (Scripps Research) Pubmed
Apr 10 LNE Seminar: Leveraging small but persistent differences for detection in human health Benjamin Smarr, PhD (UCSD) Pubmed
Jun 25 Epinephrine oscillation enhances the alertness of target cells to stress Dr. Mark Greenwood (Whitehead Institute)  
Aug 26 Immunometabolism in the brain: How brain-resident macrophages regulate tissue homeostasis Dr. Drew Adler (NYU) Pubmed

   

Past Events in 2025

Past Events in 2024

Past Events in 2023

Past Events in 2022