Lecture: Single-Cell Modeling (Bridging Stochastic Mechanistic Modeling and Statistical Inference to Shed Light on Epigenetic Regulation) Date: June 14 @ 09:00 – 10:00 Abstract: In computational biology, mechanistic (or “bottom-up”) models start with hypotheses about molecular processes and then encode them into a mathematical and algorithmic framework for simulation of dynamics. In contrast, data-driven, “top-down” models generally apply statistical analyses with few mechanistic assumptions. I will discuss a current area of research where we seek to bridge these two approaches, in order to maximize knowledge gained from genomic data. I will discuss how stochastic models of enzymatic processes that confer epigenetic marks on DNA aid interpretation of local correlations derived from epigenome sequencing, with implications for epigenome stability. Supplemental information:

• Stochastic modeling reveals kinetic heterogeneity in post-replication DNA methylation
• Locally-correlated kinetics of post-replication DNA methylation reveals processivity and region-specificity in DNA methylation maintenance

Presenter Biosketch: Elizabeth Read is Assistant Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. She holds undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Mathematics from the University of Colorado and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Throughout her research career, Dr. Read has been driven by the goal of developing quantitative models of complex biological systems, at scales ranging from molecular complexes to intra- and inter-cellular networks. During her PhD studies, Dr. Read became fascinated by stochastic processes in cell biology, and this topic continues to be a major theme underpinning work in her research group at UC Irvine. Current focus areas in her group include simulation methods for cell-biological systems and computational modeling of epigenetic and genetic regulation. In 2018, Dr. Read was named a Scialog Fellow in the area of Chemical Machinery of the Cell. She is a member of the UC Irvine Center for Complex Biological Systems and the NSF-Simons Center for Multiscale Cell Fate. Presenter Website: Read Lab at UCI Presenter Email: elread@uci.edu