Aban was invited by Professor Luc Mongeau, Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (https://www.mcgill.ca/mecheng/people/staff/lucmongeau) and Dr Nicole Li-Jessen, Assistant Professor at the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders (https://www.mcgill.ca/scsd/nicole-li-jessen-phd). This was in light of their groups’ ambition to develop a multi-scale computational model for vocal folds damage; the model will integrate the ABM paradigm.
Aban explained, “Developing multi-scale models which integrate ABM is an area I am developing my expertise in the MultiSim project. McGill University is ranked as one of the top research universities in Canada and globally. Dr Li-Jessen’s group have developed computational infrastructure and methodologies, allowing for efficient simulation parallelisation on high performance computers and live model visualisation and data analysis."
"These techniques are resolving bottleneck issues in ABM research and have the potential to accelerate its impact. Thus, collaboration and knowledge exchange between the groups at the University of Sheffield and McGill University will have mutual benefits. Therefore, part of my visit was to see the infrastructure and the projects underway in Li-Jessen’s and Mongeau’s group.”
“My talk presented the main outputs from work-package 5, which centred on a mechanical-ABM hybrid model, linking tissue, cellular and molecular events. The model examined the dynamic cell-extracellular matrix interaction (mechanoreciprocity) and the resultant intracellular signalling dynamics, specifically at the level of the protein ERK (Extracellular signal-regulated kinases)."
"One immediate outcome of my visit, based on the presentation, was professors Luc’s group interest in examining the dynamics of ERK activation as part of their mechanostimulation regimes. The second outcome was a road map on the writing a future joint grant to develop a computational model for fibrosis. This will be submitted in September 2019 as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship. This collaboration might also yield a strategic collaboration with industrial partners such as MIMETAS B.V., a biotechnology company developing human organ-on-a-chip tissue models and products for drug development.”
