Research

Angiogenesis is the process by which new blood vessels grow from existing ones. It is an ubiquitous phenomenon in health and disease of higher organisms, playing a crucial role in organogenesis, wound healing, inflammation, as well as on the onset and progression of over 50 different diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. We develop mathematical models of angiogenesis that characterise the bio-mechanical processes driving endothelial cell proliferation, neo-vascular network development and morphology, and predict tissue irrigation.

We develop cell based models that explore bio-mechanical processes in tumor development. We have a strong focus on urothelium cancer, where we find that the position of initial lesion in the urothelium strongly determines tumor progression and its invasiveness.

Cells migrate, deform and adhere to each other. These alterations in cell shape are the result of concerted polymerisation and depolymerisation events of cytoskeleton fibres, as well as forces between cells and the extracellular matrix fibres and with other cells. We use mathematical modelling to explore the strategies of cell migration, the forces exerted between cells as well as intermediate filaments dynamics.

It was found that cell proliferation is correlated with its bioelectric state, in particular with the electric potential across the cell membrane. Cancer initiation may then depend directly or indirectly on bioelectric signals propagation throughout a tissue, mediating tumor cells’ membrane depolarisation. Computational modelling of this mechanism may permit the development of new preventive strategies to hinder tumor initiation.