CTW: Biofilms in Infectious Disease: Biology to Mathematical Models and Back Again (March 22-25, 2010)
Cosponsored with Ohio State University Medical School
Organizers: John Gunn, Dan Wozniak, and Nick Cogan
Biofilms are important in many human infections, particularly those involving indwelling devices. However, many non-indwelling device bacterial biofilms foster both acute and chronic infections, such as those in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients, the gastrointestinal tract and hepatobiliary system, middle ear, and in the oral cavity. Such infections often persist despite aggressive antimicrobial therapy and intact immunity. While bench experimentation has answered many questions about biofilms, such microbial communities are exceptional candidates for the application of mathematical modeling. These biofilms require nutrient cycling, are subjected to sheer forces, form on a variety of matrices, and are dynamic with organisms joining and exiting the biofilms. The molecular mechanisms underlying persistence are also of significant interest. These linked phenomena are applicable to mathematical models because they allow testing of hypothesis and can direct new experimental efforts: a means to connect the different processes to each other and to weigh their relative contributions. This workshop aims to bring together modelers with bench scientists and clinicians working on biofilm-involved human infections. Both sides will benefit dramatically from obtaining a better understanding of one other's expertise and research directions, with the expectation of new research collaborations.
Accepted Speakers
- Nick Ashbolt (National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
- Nick Cogan (Department of Mathematics, Florida State University)
- Bill Costerton (Department of Orthopedics Surgery, Allegheny-Singer Research Institute)
- David Davies (Department of Biological Sciences, State University of New York at Binghamton)
- Jack Dockery (Department of Mathematical Sciences, Montana State University)
- Hermann Eberl (Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Guelph)
- Mahmoud Ghannoum (University Hospitals Case Medical Center)
- Kim Lewis (Department of Biology, Northeastern University)
- Robert Palmer (Oral Infection and Immunity Branch, National Institute of Dental Craniofacial Research - NIH)
- Matt Parsek (Department of Microbiology, University of Washington)
- Karin Sauer (Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University)
- Martin Schuster (Department of Microbiology, Oregon State University)
- Hal Smith (Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Arizona State University)
- Fitnat Yildiz (Microbiology & Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Santa Cruz)
