- Start Date:
June 23, 2009
- Event Start Time:
1:00 PM
- Event End Time:
2:00 PM
- Organizers:
Gene Fiorini
- Seminar Series:
REU Seminar
- Presenter(s):
Tinevimbo Shiri - Rutgers University
- Event Location:
DIMACS Seminar room
- Abstract:
HIV poses a unique modeling challenge because the virus population continuously evolves to become a heterogeneous pool at any time. Mathematical models have contributed significantly to the understanding of various aspects of HIV pathogenesis and its basic biology. However models have not been successful in exploring questions related to risks associated with initiation of chronic therapy (such as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART)) a short while after a suboptimal transient regimen like Nevirapine for prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT). A further important set of questions arises about the effects of selection pressure, point mutations and recombination on shaping viral diversity. Mathematical descriptions have generally been limited to systems of ordinary differential equations describing mean field behavior or to statistical descriptions of genetic change. New modeling approaches are needed to answer some of these questions. In this talk, I will start by introducing a simple deterministic model interfaced with a stochastic component to explore the risk of occurrence of rare variants after sub-optimal treatment and the period at which the new genome lineage is likely to persist. The model shows that, even transient subpopulations of common mutants which appear to fade are associated with accelerated appearance of rarer mutations. Lastly, I will be talking about new conceptual approaches in modeling HIV sequence diversification.
