Shixin XU, Assistant Professor of Mathematics is scheduled to give a seminar to introduce his idea for a grant proposal in November (see below). Please email fx28@duke.edu if you want to get the Zoom link.

Presentation date& time: Nov. 20 9am-10am Beijing time / Nov. 19 8pm – 9pm EST via Zoom
• 9:00 -9:30 presentation
• 9:30-10:00 Q&A

Flows of water and various organic and inorganic molecules in the central nervous system are important in a wide range of biological and medical processes, as has recently become apparent (Nedergaard and Goldman 2020). However, the exact mechanisms that drive these flows are often not known. Here we investigate the forces and flows in a tridomain model of the central nervous system. We use the experimental system of the optic nerve, investigated by the Harvard group (Orkand, Nicholls, and Kuffler 1966) as a protype of the central nervous system in general. We construct a model and choose its parameters to fit the experimental data in detail. Our model is three dimensional and is meant to include significant anatomical detail in a general way. In this way, the model can be adapted to describe other systems with other structures, channels and transporters.

  • Huaxiong Huang, Dean of the Division of Science and Technology (DST), UIC
  • Robert Eisenberg, Bard Endowed Professor and Chairman emeritus, Rush
  • Huanhe Yang, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Biochemistry, Duke
  • Ru-Rong Ji, Distinguished Distinguished Professor of Anesthesiology, Duke