Speakers
Description
Complexity science and mathematical biology are closely related disciplines in terms of goals and approach. However, due to their independent historical development, the two fields largely follow parallel paths, with relatively limited interaction in conferences. Complexity science focuses on the use of mathematical models to understand global phenomena emerging from the low-level interactions among multiple components. The insights provided by these mathematical tools, together with increasingly available data, have led to a wide range of applications in biology and medicine.
This minisymposium brings together researchers addressing biological and medical problems from a complexity science perspective. This year, the session will centre on modelling multiple interacting cell populations and the implications of their ecological structure. The four speakers will cover diverse applications, including the prediction of microbial ecosystem dynamics using generalised Lotka-Volterra models, Bayesian inference algorithms to reconstruct interaction-driven probability distributions, co-evolution and the emergence of mutualism in interacting populations, and the use of these methods to better quantify cancer response to chemotherapy.
Building on the strong interest that the minisymposium generated at ECMTB 2024 (Toledo, Spain), this new edition aims to continue fostering interaction and collaboration between mathematical biologists and complexity science researchers.
Bibliography
@article{castro2025scarce,
title={Scarce data, noisy inferences and overfitting: the hidden flaws in ecological dynamics modelling},
author={Castro, Mario and Vida, Rafael and Galeano, Javier and Cuesta, Jose A},
journal={Journal of the Royal Society Interface},
volume={22},
number={231},
year={2025},
publisher={The Royal Society}
}
@article{stucchi2020general,
title={A general model of population dynamics accounting for multiple kinds of interaction},
author={Stucchi, Luciano and Pastor, Juan Manuel and Garc{\'\i}a-Algarra, Javier and Galeano, Javier},
journal={Complexity},
volume={2020},
number={1},
pages={7961327},
year={2020},
publisher={Wiley Online Library}
}
@article{lampo2024structural,
title={Structural dynamics of plant--pollinator mutualistic networks},
author={Lampo, Aniello and Palazzi, Mar{\'\i}a J and Borge-Holthoefer, Javier and Sol{\'e}-Ribalta, Albert},
journal={PNAS nexus},
volume={3},
number={6},
pages={pgae209},
year={2024},
publisher={Oxford University Press US}
}
@article{camacho2024sparse,
title={Sparse species interactions reproduce abundance correlation patterns in microbial communities},
author={Camacho-Mateu, Jos{\'e} and Lampo, Aniello and Sireci, Matteo and Mu{\~n}oz, Miguel A and Cuesta, Jos{\'e} A},
journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences},
volume={121},
number={5},
pages={e2309575121},
year={2024},
publisher={National Academy of Sciences}
}
@article{sanchez2025assessment,
title={Assessment of cell viability in drug therapy: IC50 and other new Time-Independent indices for evaluating chemotherapy efficacy},
author={S{\'a}nchez-D{\'\i}ez, Marta and Romero-Jim{\'e}nez, Paula and Alegr{\'\i}a-Aravena, Nicol{\'a}s and Gavira-O’Neill, Clara E and Vicente-Garc{\'\i}a, Elena and Quiroz-Troncoso, Josefa and Gonz{\'a}lez-Martos, Raquel and Ram{\'\i}rez-Castillejo, Carmen and Pastor, Juan Manuel},
journal={Pharmaceutics},
volume={17},
number={2},
pages={247},
year={2025}
}
