We are a theoretical biophysics group at the Hubrecht Institute. We study how cells use temporal and mechanical dynamics to sense and shape tissue geometry during development.
Biological systems operate far from equilibrium, continuously consuming energy to generate the oscillations, flows and shape changes that drive development. Using the tools of non-equilibrium statistical physics, and working hand in hand with experimental collaborators, we build minimal, physically grounded theories that connect molecular activity to the emergent behaviour of cells and tissues.
Oscillatory dynamics
Biological oscillations, such as segmentation clocks, calcium waves, and cell cycles, are a distinctive and deeply underexplored class of non-equilibrium phenomena: unlike physical waves, they carry no energy of their own but are continuously driven by local energy input.
Morphogenesis of intestinal organoids
We use intestinal organoids as a model system to ask how a tissue collectively builds its own three-dimensional shape. We are developing computational methods, based on spherical-harmonic decomposition and heat-kernel curvature, to quantify organoid geometry systematically across large multiplexed datasets and to correlate shape with cell identity over time.
Cytoskeleton and active matter
Tissues are shaped by the forces that cells generate through their cytoskeleton, a network of filaments and motors that is itself a striking example of active matter, operating far from thermal equilibrium. We use mesoscopic active matter theories to understand how cytoskeletal self-organization produces coherent mechanical behavior, from the actin flows that facilitate division of large embryonic cells, to the emergent elasticity of assemblies of active filaments and colloids.
