Thanks to the Young Complexity Researchers Utrecht (YCRU) group, they brought these popular sessions back to the CCSS for our researchers to discuss challenges in Complex Systems Studies. Everyone is welcome!
Abstract of presentation:
The adaptive immune system protects against infection by generating highly specific and long-lasting responses. Germinal centers (GCs) are the sites where high-affinity antibody responses are formed after infection or vaccination. While the overall outcome is clear, it emerges from many local interactions between immune cells within lymphoid tissue. B cells cycle through mutation and selection, making repeated decisions based on signals from antigen and helper T cells.
This system operates within tight limits. If the response is too weak, infections are not controlled; if it is too strong or misdirected, harmful autoreactivity can arise. Understanding how these outcomes emerge from many local interactions remains a major challenge. Germinal centers present a natural setting to study how complex, adaptive systems operate. Using approaches from complex systems science—like modeling collective behavior and tracing how local interactions shape global outcomes—could reveal why some immune responses succeed while others fail.
As a new associate member of CCSS, I will use this opportunity to introduce my research and explore potential connections with the complex systems community.
T:B Cell lab 
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