DATE:

Friday, August 11, 2023

TIME:

3:30 PM

LOCATION:

Zoom

SPEAKER:

Peter Uhl, PhD Candidate, Computational Science, San Diego State University/UC, Irvine

ABSTRACT:

In the past decade, treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF) lung infections has shifted from focusing on individual pathogens to a community-focused approach. Periods of acute infection known as pulmonary exacerbations are the leading cause of death in patients, and such episodes are associated with high abundances of fermentative anaerobes. Because anaerobes require a hypoxic environment in which to propagate, it is important to understand the role of oxygen in the CF airway microbiome and how aerobic species create an ecological niche for anaerobes to occupy. In this paper, we develop a spatially-dependent mathematical model to quantify the interaction between aerobic and anaerobic microbes in the presence of a diffusible oxygen concentration within a CF-airway. We use this model to predict the minimum radius a mucus plug can have for anaerobes to survive inside of it, and the speed at which anaerobes will spread through a mucus-clogged airway. Finally, we investigate the properties a hypothetical antibiotic should possess to effectively control the anaerobic population. The goal of this work is to quantify oxygen-based dynamics of CF lung infections and predict potential therapies. While its focus is specifically on cystic fibrosis, this work is also applicable to other polymicrobial infections.

HOST:

SDSU’s SIAM Student Chapter

VIDEO:

Available After Talk