Date/Time
Date(s) - 17/10/2018
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Dr. Janos Juhasz – McMaster/Juravinski

Title: Boundary effects in Biophysics and Medical Physics

Description: This seminar presentation starts with the focus on the Physicist who is found on a tie-line (in the phase diagram) of the different miscible domains of Physics that govern the main fields of Biophysics and Medical Physics. This position, in the critical fluctuation domain, allows the Physicist to rapidly switch between the two domains.
To present evidence for the above statement, specific research results will be presented on the phase behaviour of lipids (found in cell membranes) with special focus on the fluid-fluid phase separation in model membranes. Determination of the location of phase boundaries is an important step towards understanding the phase behaviour of different lipid systems. A partial phase diagram for a given ternary lipid mixture will be presented based on results from nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and confocal fluorescence microscopy (CFM). Partitioning behaviour of a set of fluorescent probes used in studying model membrane systems will follow. Building on these results, investigation of effects of ionizing radiation on these model membranes will be explored. Lastly, a clinical project involving Medical Physics and Radiation Therapy of a specific breast cancer treatment will conclude the seminar presentation.

Location: ABB-102

Host: Kari Dalnoki-Veress