[Slaam] SLAAM Seminar Monday, May 22nd, 9am Pacific: Pintu Patra (Heidelberg University)

[SLAAM Distribution List]

Dear enthusiasts of the SLAAM seminars,


We are excited to announce that the next Soft Living Active and Adaptive Matter (SLAAM)<https://physics.ucmerced.edu/slaam> seminar will be given by Dr. Pintu Patra (Heidelberg University) on Monday, May 22nd, at 9am Pacific/11am Central/12 noon Eastern time (US), with the title:

“The role of shape and mechanics in biological active matter”


Please join at the link below to attend:

https://ucmerced.zoom.us/j/92693607475?pwd=TnI5dDhRRnYvejNZK2xNN0s4M0R5UT09

Zoom Meeting ID: 926 9360 7475   |   Passcode: 223642

As usual, there will be a 15 min informal Q&A at the end of the hour. Graduate students will have an opportunity to interact with the speaker in an informal setting during the "Meet the speaker" timeslot just after the talk. Please join if the time works for you.



Please see more info in the flyer here<https://physics.ucmerced.edu/sites/physics.ucmerced.edu/files/documents/pintu_patra_slaam87.pdf> and in the text below:



Abstract: Active matter refers to a collection of individuals, from animal groups to micro-organisms to cytoskeletal filaments, that extract energy from their surroundings at a single-particle level to generate motion and forces. Active matter displays a wide range of emergent behaviors, such as coordinated migration, self-organization, phase transitions, and self-assembly. Here we show that Plasmodium sporozoites, a crescent-shaped form of malaria parasites, provide a unique model system of active matter that combines the aspects of self-propulsion, curved shape, and mechanical flexibility into one system. We investigate the motion of sporozoites in collectives extracted from the salivary glands of mosquitoes, where they form large rotating vortices. We find that single sporozoites within the vortices are sorted according to their curvatures and speeds. Further, the vortices undergo oscillatory breathing in their shape. We explain these intriguing observations using agent-based simulations where each agent is represented by an active curved polymer that mimics the behavior of a motile sporozoite. In summary, we establish malaria parasites as a new active matter system and provide novel insight into the role of shape and mechanics in collective behavior.



Speaker bio
Dr. Patra is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Heidelberg University. He specializes in the field of biological physics and active matter. He completed his Ph.D. in Theoretical Biological Physics at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Germany under the guidance of Prof. Stefan Klumpp, focusing on the population dynamics of bacterial persistence. Following the completion of his Ph.D., Dr. Patra worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Bioengineering Department of Rice University. During this time, he developed computational models to gain insights into the mechanisms of colony expansion of Myxobacteria. Apart from his research contributions, Dr. Patra has a keen interest in science outreach. He is currently associated with two Twitter groups, "Collective Dynamics of Living Systems" and "Theoretical Biophysics," where he shares recent research articles, job opportunities, and news related to these areas.


See you there!



Best regards,

Dan Beller

on behalf of the SLAAM organizing team
(Alexandra Tayar, Suraj Shankar, Daniel Beller, Kinjal Dasbiswas)

To join the SLAAM mailing list, please sign up here<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_forms_d_e_1FAIpQLScTyzEuuE7TfrrapgP4tzN-5FoPSqbBhURUxa9-2Dzc8USnY1IPzA_viewform&d=DwMFAw&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=6T170XR90Za4-nl9r1e8-WfEJbvH5g5hJbA9UumqfWQ&m=NK4EGo1VvrDiYSxdvOUJXgCkEAzTrQzNpQi-P59LZiKL_lMA3briJm9KQh9Y3suN&s=3hc1lEhiJwBLtMEr12Z9K5XtZaVlEfOZKYXGtXCjRDg&e=>. If you’re a postdoc interested in giving a SLAAM talk, we invite you to register your interest on that webform.


Daniel Beller
Assistant Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Johns Hopkins University
pages.jh.edu/dbeller3
(he/him/his)
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