Microglia Activation

Microglia are a special type of immune cell found only in the central nervous system. These multifaceted cells fight infections, repair damage, remove debris, and are central to maintaining brain health. However, these cells can go rogue and contribute to neurodegenerative pathologies such as Alzheimer's Disease. This is linked to a shift in their cellular metabolism, but how and why this metabolic reprogramming occurs and its impact on disease progression remains unknown. My lab develops and analyzes multi-scale mathematical models to better understand the role of various molecular mechanisms in microglia behavior and how this behavior influences and orchestrates further cellular activity in the brain. 

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation through the Mathematical Biology Program and the Systems and Synthetic Biology Cluster.  We are extremely grateful for this support.

Lab Photos

Lab News

Our paper "Investigating Potential Alzheimer's Disease Therapies through an Agent-based Model of Impaired Microglia Metabolism was accepted to the journal Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics.  This paper builds upon our previous paper, and incorporates metabolic pathways and the blood brain barrier into our model.  The paper is available at the bottom of this page. (September 2025)

John presented our work at the Mathematical Association of America's MathFest in Sacramento and was selected for the Janet L. Andersen Award for Undergraduate Research in Mathematical or Computational Biology (August 2025)

Our group presented at IdeaFest (May 2025)

Our metabolic model has been published to the NetLogo User Community (April 2025).  

Our team was honored at the Outstanding Student Awards Ceremony for Excellence in Research (April 2025)

Our team was selected to represent Humboldt in the annual CSU Research Competition!  (February 2025).

Our work was featured in Humboldt NOW and a local newspaper (January 2025) 

Kami and Anca had their paper accepted to the Journal of Theoretical Biology (January 2025)

Our group presented at the American Physical Society Far West Conference (October 2024)

Our first peer reviewed journal article was accepted to Spora: A Journal in Biomathematics!  (September 2024)

Our group presented at IdeaFest (May 2024)  

Our group represented Cal Poly Humboldt at the California State University Student Research Competition in San Luis Obispo (April 2024)  

Our agent-based model has been published ot the NetLogo User Community (April 2024)

Presentations, Posters and Papers