Luisa Arispe, Professor and Chair of the Department of Social and Developmental Biology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, presents at the NITMB Collaboration Development Workshop.
On August 14th, 2024, the NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology convened to introduce the work of a diverse selection of biologists to mathematical theorists with the purpose of developing new collaborations that could answer important questions in biological research. The NSF-Simons NITMB Collaboration Development Workshop invited nine biologists to present their work to the NITMB community, igniting conversations and potential collaborations. Professor Luisa Arispe was one such researcher who presented at the workshop.
Luisa Arispe, Professor and Chair of the Department of Social and Developmental Biology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Luisa Arispe is Professor and Chair of the Department of Social and Developmental Biology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Professor Arispe’s research focuses on the signaling pathways that regulate vascular morphogenesis and vascular dysfunction during disease.
We spoke with Luisa Arispe to learn more about Luisa Arispe and the work Professor Arispe conducts with endothelial cells.
What is your current research area?
“What interests me as an investigator is trying to understand how cells make decisions. How do they make decisions to engage in a proliferative activity? How do they make a decision to organize a tissue with others? How do they make a decision to leave that tissue and engage in migration? The platform I’ve chosen to do this with are vascular endothelial cells. Endothelial cells can expand their entire life, negotiating trafficking and making decisions as to what cells go from one place to another. But they also can depart that blood vessel to form another blood vessel, and proliferate and migrate. And so that platform has been incredibly plastic to understand and exploit the question.”
What disciplines does your research integrate?
“I try to follow the question and not necessarily be attached to any particular platform. I’m very plastic that way, just like the cells. Within my 30 years of doing research, I have done a lot of molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, cell biology, embryology, mathematics, computation, translation, and nanoscience.”
Where do you find inspiration?
“The results themselves are a big source of inspiration. Whenever I see a piece of biology that surprises me, that is a tremendous boost of inspiration that awakens a realm of possibilities you were not contemplating. The other source of inspiration is my colleagues. I think solving a problem is a common theme across multiple disciplines, and understanding how different colleagues in a completely different area go about solving a problem provides a source of inspiration for how I can solve my own problems.”
What aspects of your research could be interesting to mathematicians or applied to biology?
“There are multiple aspects right now that we’re trying to solve that could benefit from additional interactions with mathematicians and theorists. We have a lot of data, descriptive data and dynamics of behaviors that repeat themselves. We’re trying to understand the order of those behaviors, make predictions of that order, and understand how those dynamics are set in place. We definitely have a lot to gain by having other colleagues look at the same problem.”
What about the NITMB do you find exciting?
“The NITMB is a phenomenal platform to bring mathematicians and biologists into the same place. By coming together, I think we have nothing but opportunities to forge new research and directions. I’m very excited by the opportunity to be a part of it. And I am very interested in discussing our research with colleagues or providing a source of support to the theorists to try to solve problems or develop new math that can be utilized within biology.”
What career achievement are you most proud of?
“What makes me the proudest is to see my own trainees achieve. I get tremendous satisfaction hearing back from them on their successes.”
Outside of your research, what other interests do you have?
“I like to play classical guitar. I really enjoy reading.”
What are your favorite books and music?
“I’m a really big fan of Isaac Asimov and John le Carré. I’m very interested in those types of literature. In terms of music, I really love everything. I love classical guitar, but in terms of listening to music, I can get enthused with any type of music ranging from classical to pop.”
What are you hoping to work on in the future?
“Interfacing with NITMB gives me an opportunity to pivot some of the problems that we are trying to pursue and questions we’re trying to answer in a more quantitative and mathematical manner. I would love to interface and interact with more people. I think the combination of multiple sciences is the force behind solving problems I would like to answer.”
The NITMB community enjoyed welcoming Luisa Arispe for the NTIMB Collaboration Development Workshop. More information on Arispe’s work is available on the Arispe Lab website.