Math Biology Seminar: Jacques Bélair

The production and control of blood cells is regulation by an intricate system of coupled mechanisms built around differentiation and proliferation of cells emerging from a common pool, with hormonal feedback at various stages of the maturation process. By developing physiologically correct models of this system, and its perturbation under pharmaceutical interventions, such as oncological treatments, we are lead to the investigation of nonlinear systems of delay-differential equations, some with state-dependent delays. I will review the evolution of models for erythropoiesis (red blood cell production), and present recent models for neutrophils (white blood cells), incorporating the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of an oncological drug, together with the main regulating hormone, G-CSF, and platelets.