Speaker: James Benson, NIST
Title: Mathematical Modeling in Cryobiology

Abstract: Successful cryopreservation of cells and tissues offers a host of benefits to a broad spectrum of fundamental sciences and agricultural and medical industries, but the path to and from -190 degrees Celsius requires a complete and accurate model of the biophysical and biochemical phenomena that occur as cells and tissues are frozen and thawed. Cryobiology encompasses an enormous range of physical and biophysical phenomena, and as such is a field rich in interesting, tractable, and non-contrived problems that span a large range of applied mathematical techniques. Specifically, cryobiology is concerned with both heat and mass transfer at mutiple scales and settings, namely, the cellular, tissue, and organ scales both inside and outside of biomaterials, and the ensuing parameter identification and optimal control problems. In this talk I will discuss some specific cryobiological problems related to these multiple scales and settings, the subsequent analytical and computational modeling aproaches and techniques that I have used in this field, and a few current areas of research.

Time: Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Place: Science and Tech I, Room 242

Department of Mathematical Sciences
George Mason University
4400 University Drive, MS 3F2
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
http://math.gmu.edu/
Tel. 703-993-1460, Fax. 703-993-1491