Overview

An inherent challenge of interdisciplinary research is breaching the barriers between theory and experiment, both in communication across disciplines and expertise in the domain-specific fundamentals. As such, it is not always obvious when there is the potential for collaboration, or how theorists and experimentalists can best navigate their collaborations to address open problems and inspire new research. In collaboration, curiosity is as fundamental as it is to science broadly – experimentalists and theorists have the power to inspire each other when they are receptive and curious to learn perspectives and techniques outside their respective fields. Interdisciplinary discussion and research can yield novel biological questions, uncover general principles, and reveal unexplored avenues by which theory can advance our understanding of biological systems.
This workshop will bring together early-career researchers across disciplines with the goal of inspiring curiosity and revealing avenues of collaboration. Sessions will be aimed at encouraging learning across the experiment-theory spectrum and stimulating cross-disciplinary conversation, with a mix of tutorial-style talks, presentations from leaders at the scientific intersection, and discussion sessions.
Schedule
February 03 2026 Tuesday
1:30 pm - 1:50 pm
Welcome to Workshop and Housekeeping / Setting the tone
1:50 pm - 2:30 pm
Lightning Talks
Alasdair Hastewell, Nour Khoudari, Mariana De Niz
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Vicky Hoznek
Developmentally regulated changes in basement membrane composition affect matrix viscoelasticity and tissue morphogenesis
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Anne Pringle
Is ballistospory a solved problem?
3:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Refreshments Break
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Saad Bhamla and Vishal Patil
How a mathematician and a biophysicist unravel topological tangles
5:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Riccardo Ravasio
Behind the scenes of the evolution of error correction mechanisms
February 04 2026 Wednesday
8:30 am - 8:55 am
Light Breakfast
9:00 am - 9:30 am
Sunghwan (Sunny) Jung
Instabilities in animal behaviors – covering phenomena such as drinking, diving, and shaking in animals.
9:30 am - 10:00 am
Lightning Talk
Megan Morrison, Prathyusha K.R., Milena Chakraverti-Wuerthwein
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:00 am
Amanda Johnson
How do human mesoderm cells learn where to go during gastrulation?
11:00 am - 11:30 am
Matthew Nelsen
Do evolutionary legacies structure lichen symbioses?
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
Ben Larson
Perspectives from protists on principles of cellular behavior
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 2:30 pm
Holly Moeller
How models saved my experiment: The paradox of enrichment and chloroplast-stealing plankton
2:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Panel
Holly Moeller, Al Volkening, and Anne Pringle
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Coffee Break
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Madhav Mani
What are the right variables for living systems? A topological approach to the emergence and evolution of embryonic shape
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Reception
February 05 2026 Thursday
8:30 am - 8:55 am
Light Breakfast
9:00 am - 9:30 am
Leanna Owen
The molecular choreography of actin-generated force in budding yeast endocytosis: from quantitative measurements in a regular pathway
9:30 am - 10:00 am
Lightning Talks
Yicong Fu, Raine Detmer, Omer Granek
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:00 am
Jasmine Nirody
Modeling complex biological systems from molecules to organisms
11:00 am - 11:30 am
Lightning Talks
Yufei Xiao, Kristina Braverman, TBA
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
Andrea Herman
How do neighboring genes talk to each other?
12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Al Volkening
Tutorial on topological data analysis for modeling pattern formation
3:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Coffee Break
3:30 pm - 4:45 pm
Forward-looking discussion and reflection session
4:45 pm - 5:00 pm
Closing remarks
Participants
Organizers
Participants
Vidyesh Rao Anisetti – James Frank Institute
Alex Berlaga – University of Chicago
Siddharth Bothra – University of Chicago
Kristina Braverman – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Milena Chakraverti-Wuerthwein – University of Chicago
Selimzhan Chalyshkan – Northwestern University
Mariana De Niz – Northwestern University
Raine Detmer – University of California, Santa Barbara
Julia Fadjukov – Northwestern University
Leyun Feng – Northwestern University
Federica Ferretti – NITMB
Yicong Fu – Cornell University
Doruk Efe Gökmen – NITMB
Venkatesh Gopal – Elmhurst University
Omer Granek – The University of Chicago
Alasdair Hastewell – NITMB
Sudhanva Kalasapura Venugopal Krishna – University of Chicago
Nour Khoudari – Purdue University
Prthyusha K.R – Georgia Institute of Technology
Joe Landsittel – Northwestern University
Aditya Mahadevan – NITMB
Billie Meadowcroft – University of Chicago
Tushya Mehta – Northwestern University
Xiangyi Meng – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Megan Morrison – Illinois Institute of Technology
Luna Ramirez Hincapie – University of Chicago
Ankita Roychoudhury – Northwestern University
Mary Skillicorn – Northwestern University
Malavika Varma – University of Chicago
Xueying Wang – NITMB
Ruby Wen – University of Chicago
Hannah Wirtshafter – Northwestern University
Yufei Xiao – Georgia Institute of Technology
Adrianne Zhong – NITMB
Recordings
Nour Khoudari
Recorded on 02/03/2026
Title: Model-Experiment Feedback Loop
Vicky Hoznek
Recorded on 02/03/2026
Title: Developmentally regulated changes in basement membrane composition affect matrix viscoelasticity and tissue morphogenesis
Saad Bhamla and Vishal Patil
Recorded on 02/03/2026
Title: How a mathematician and a biophysicist unravel topological tangles
Riccardo Ravasio
Recorded on 02/03/2026
Title: Behind the scenes of the evolution of error correction mechanisms
Sunghwan (Sunny) Jung
Recorded on 02/04/2026
Title: Instabilities in animal behaviors – covering phenomena such as drinking, diving, and shaking in animals.
Megan Morrison
Recorded on 02/04/2026
Title: C. Elegans Dynamics
Prathyusha K.R.
Recorded on 02/04/2026
Title: How Do Worms Use Roots to Climb?
Milena Chakraverti-Wuerthwein
Recorded on 02/04/2026
Amanda Johnson
Recorded on 02/04/2026
Title: How do human mesoderm cells learn where to go during gastrulation?
Matthew Nelsen
Recorded on 02/04/2026
Title: Do evolutionary legacies structure lichen symbioses?
Ben Larson
Recorded on 02/04/2026
Title: Perspectives from protists on principles of cellular behavior
Yicong Fu
Recorded on 02/05/2026
Title: Fish-Inspired Fluid-Structure Interactions with Perforated Flexible Panels
Raine Detmer
Recorded on 02/05/2026
Jasmine Nirody
Recorded on 02/05/2026
Title: Modeling complex biological systems from molecules to organisms
Yufei Xiao
Recorded on 02/05/2026
Kristina Braverman
Recorded on 02/05/2026
Title: Interpretability of Machine Learning on Experimental Data
Andrea Herman
Recorded on 02/05/2026
Title: How do neighboring genes talk to each other?