DATE:

Friday, June 9, 2023

TIME:

3:30 PM

LOCATION:

Zoom

SPEAKER:

Ashley Schwartz, PhD Candidate, Computational Science, San Diego State University/UC, Irvine

ABSTRACT:

Due to the correlation between environmental exposures and adverse developmental outcomes, mathematical models are needed to aid in the toxicological evaluation of pollutants. This talk seeks to investigate adverse developmental outcomes following exposure to the emerging aquatic pollutant tris(4-chlorophenyl)methanol (TCPMOH) using zebrafish, Danio rerio, as a model for embryonic development. First, we utilize mathematical modeling to characterize the interaction between nutrient uptake and overall growth in the zebrafish model. Findings from this study establish a nonlinear functional relationship between nutrient absorption and early fish growth. We identified TCPMOH increased yolk utilization and decreased overall fish growth using the developed ordinary differential equation model. Second, we utilize network modeling to characterize the co-occurrence of developmental abnormalities and mortality observed in the zebrafish model following TCPMOH exposure. TCPMOH exposed samples experienced increased abnormality co-occurrence when compared to controls. Centrality analysis of the network revealed pericardial and yolk sac edema to be the critical nodes among all TCPMOH exposure levels, preceding further abnormalities. Overall, this study introduces two mathematical modeling approaches for developmental toxicology applications. Each model has been developed utilizing experimental results and may be adapted for the toxicological evaluation of new and emerging pollutants, making them valuable tools for toxicity assessment.

HOST:

SDSU’s SIAM Student Chapter

VIDEO: