OxTalks will soon move to the new Halo platform and will become 'Oxford Events.' There will be a need for an OxTalks freeze. This was previously planned for Friday 14th November – a new date will be shared as soon as it is available (full details will be available on the Staff Gateway).
In the meantime, the OxTalks site will remain active and events will continue to be published.
If staff have any questions about the Oxford Events launch, please contact halo@digital.ox.ac.uk
Blood vessels are among the most vital structures in the human body, forming intricate networks that connect and support various organ systems. Remarkably, during early embryonic development—before any blood vessels are visible—their precursor cells are arranged in stereotypical patterns throughout the embryo. We hypothesize that these patterns guide the directional growth and fusion of precursor cells into hollow tubes formed from initially solid clusters. Further analysis of cells within these clusters reveals unique organization that may influence their differentiation into endothelial and blood cells. In this work, I revisit the problem of pattern formation through the lens of active matter physics, using both developing embryonic systems and in vitro cell culture models where similar patterns are observed during tissue budding. These different systems exhibit similar patterning behavior, driven by changes in cellular activity, adhesion and motility.
