Tomas Helikar, assistant professor, Department of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, will present the seminar “Understanding immune system dynamics with computational models.”

Through the use of computational, multi-scale, multi-cellular systems modeling, his group focuses on improving our understanding of mechanisms and dynamics of complex biological networks that govern the healthy state of an organism, how aberrant changes in these networks result in diseases, and how we can strategically develop more effective therapies to challenge these diseases. It also aims to transform the way life sciences students learn about complex living systems by developing, implementing, and evaluating computational modeling and computer simulations as a novel pedagogical aid.