Seminars
September 2026
Launching the Australian Cardiovascular disease Data Commons
Peter Meikle, Bernie Pope, Tingting Wang· Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute (Meikle, Wang); Australian BioCommons (Pope)
Wed, Sep 30 · 02:00 UTC · Online
Peter Meikle, Bernie Pope and Tingting Wang present the Australian Cardiovascular disease Data Commons (ACDC). Some heart attacks occur without established risk factors, and repeat events remain common despite optimal treatment. ACDC addresses this gap by securely pooling multi-omics, imaging and longitudinal outcomes from approximately 400,000 people in 18 Australian cohorts. The webinar explains cloud infrastructure, data harmonisation and federated standards based on Gen3; how integrated genomic, multi-omics and imaging cohorts support new risk markers and polygenic risk-score testing; and how the platform can move diagnostic research towards clinical practice. Meikle and Wang are at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute; Pope is at Australian BioCommons. Online via Zoom. Wednesday 30 September 2026, 12:00–13:00 AEST (Australia/Melbourne; UTC+10). Free, with advance registration through the official event page. Intended for life scientists, bioinformaticians, cardiovascular clinicians, data custodians and medical data scientists. Parts may be recorded; the Australian BioCommons Code of Conduct applies. Organized by Australian BioCommons.
Sleep & Postoperative Delirium
Mansi Chhajed· Massachusetts General Hospital
Tue, Sep 29 · 18:00 UTC · Online
Mansi Chhajed examines how the move from home sleep patterns to disrupted hospital sleep relates to cognitive outcomes after surgery. The session combines longitudinal sleep measurements with clinical assessments of postoperative delirium to identify baseline markers of vulnerability and consider practical ways to improve recovery. It connects sleep architecture, biological and environmental influences, and preoperative risk with proactive, sleep-informed patient care. Chhajed is a Clinical Research Coordinator at Massachusetts General Hospital. Online via Zoom Webinar. Tuesday 29 September 2026 at 14:00 ET / 13:00 CT (America/New_York; EDT, UTC−4). Organized by the Sleep Research Society — Virtual Seminar Series. Follow Register Today on the organizer's page to the event-specific Zoom form, which requests name and email. The form is publicly accessible; advance registration supplies webinar access.
The paradox of the corpus callosum: insights from the developing brain
Vanessa Siffredi· Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne (UNIL)
Tue, Sep 29 · 07:30 UTC · Hôpital des Enfants, Geneva · Hybrid
Vanessa Siffredi explores why the corpus callosum is central to typical brain development, yet some children born without it or with callosal abnormalities develop comparably to their peers. The talk connects callosal structure and communication between hemispheres with cognition, attention, executive function, memory, language and socio-emotional development. Structural and functional neuroimaging studies of typical development and callosal dysgenesis examine how developing brains compensate for alterations in this major white-matter pathway. Siffredi is affiliated with CHUV and UNIL; Carole Guedj chairs the seminar. Hybrid: Auditoire de pédiatrie Fred Bamatter, HUG, Hôpital des Enfants, Geneva; online via Zoom. Tuesday 29 September 2026, 09:30–10:30 CEST (Europe/Zurich; UTC+2), followed by CIBM news and networking until 11:00. Organized by CIBM Center for Biomedical Imaging — Breakfast and Science. In-person attendance is free without registration. Remote attendees must register through the Zoom link on the event page and select the 29 September occurrence.
Harnessing AI/ML for intelligent decision making in cell and gene therapy manufacturing
Irene Rombel, Snehal Naik, Lesbeth Rodriguez· Biotechnology Innovation Organization
Mon, Sep 28 · 16:00 UTC · Online
Irene Rombel discusses how artificial intelligence and machine learning can address bottlenecks, quality issues, and production costs in cell, gene, and RNA therapy manufacturing. The seminar focuses on real-world process-development applications that improve reproducibility, speed, and cost effectiveness.
How Dynamics of Statistical Learning Affects Skill Acquisition: the Cases of Dyslexia and Autism
Merav Ahissar· Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Fri, Sep 25 · 19:00 UTC · Online
Merav Ahissar examines how expertise emerges through learning the statistics of task-relevant stimuli. Slow learning builds familiarity with stable regularities, such as syllable patterns in language, while fast adaptation supports flexible responses to changing situations, including surprising social interactions. The talk considers atypical learning dynamics in dyslexia and autism and how these may explain difficulties in linguistic and social skill acquisition, respectively. The discussion draws on Gertsovski and Ahissar, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2026. Speaker: Merav Ahissar, Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Organized by Cornell Cognitive Science. Friday 25 September 2026, 15:00–16:30 America/New_York (EDT). Attend online through the public Join via Zoom link on the official event page; the link opens Zoom’s app and browser join options. Cornell advertises the source event as hybrid, but this listing covers the verified online attendance route.
Biophysical underpinnings of computation and learning in the neocortex
Mark Harnett· MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Thu, Sep 24 · 20:00 UTC · Cambridge, United States
Mark Harnett presents work on how synaptic organization, nonlinear dendritic processing, and neuronal activity patterns interact to support computation, flexibility, and learning in the adult mammalian neocortex. The Brain and Cognitive Sciences colloquium is followed by a reception.
Diabetic Kidney Disease: A Cascade of Dysfunction from an Organelle to an Organ
Farhad Danesh· The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Thu, Sep 24 · 20:00 UTC · Washington, and Zoom · Hybrid
Farhad Danesh examines how mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, altered metabolism and structural remodelling convert hyperglycaemia into progressive kidney injury. The seminar connects mitochondrial dynamics with diabetic microvascular damage, non-coding RNA regulation and experimental models that establish causal links to disease progression. Genome-wide CRISPR screens and spatial metabolomics reveal cellular gene-regulatory and metabolic changes. Integrating these approaches with molecular genetics, genomics and epigenomics, the work seeks therapeutic targets to prevent diabetic kidney disease progressing to kidney failure. Hybrid: New Research Building Auditorium, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, and Zoom. Thursday 24 September 2026, 16:00–17:00 EDT (America/New_York; UTC−4). Use the public event registration form to arrange attendance, or follow its Zoom link for remote participation. Organized by Georgetown’s Distinguished Scientist Seminar Series. Danesh is Professor of Medicine and Chief of Nephrology at MD Anderson.
Stability and Bifurcations in a Free Boundary PDE Models of Cell Motility
Leonid Berlyand· Pennsylvania State University
Thu, Sep 24 · 19:00 UTC · Princeton, United States
Leonid Berlyand discusses mathematical models for the onset of cell motion driven by myosin contraction. A two-dimensional free-boundary PDE model links cell-shape evolution to diffusion and Keller–Segel-type transport. The talk examines linear stability, a stability-determining eigenvalue and the way nonlinear diffusion changes the bifurcation from supercritical to subcritical. It also considers the curvature of the bifurcation curve, connections to bistability, and the role of non-self-adjoint operators. An example illustrates why a spectral gap alone need not guarantee stability. This is an in-person Analysis of Fluids and Related Topics seminar at Princeton.
AI-Driven Design of Lipid Nanoparticles for mRNA Delivery
Bowen Li· Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto
Thu, Sep 24 · 15:00 UTC · Online
Bowen Li explains how ionizable lipids are designed for lipid nanoparticles that deliver messenger RNA. The seminar covers combinatorial and machine-learning-guided design, four-component reactions for rapidly producing lipid libraries, and barcoded screening in living systems to identify formulations targeting organs and cells, including lungs, T cells and tumours. It then examines applications of AI-guided nanoparticle platforms to mRNA therapeutics. Li is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of Toronto's Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy. Online via Zoom. Thursday 24 September 2026, 11:00–12:00 Eastern Daylight Time (America/New_York; UTC−4). Use Join via Zoom on Western University's event page. The stated audience includes researchers, students, alumni and the general public. Organized by Western University's Western Bioinformatics Research Seminar.
CMSP News and Views Seminar Series: Exploring alternatives to digital artificial neural networks
Florian Marquardt· Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Thu, Sep 24 · 09:00 UTC
Florian Marquardt surveys approaches to reducing the energy and computational cost of neural networks by implementing their functions in physical devices. The central question is how experiments can efficiently determine updates to adjustable parameters, allowing the hardware itself to learn. Examples include learning through time reversal, obtaining nonlinear computation from linear optical scattering, and training analog quantum simulators as neuromorphic systems. The seminar is available in person and through the registration link on the organizer’s event page.
Toward Reliable AI-Assisted Mathematics
Qihao Ye· Columbia University
Wed, Sep 23 · 14:00 UTC · Online
Qihao Ye examines practical, affordable ways for individual mathematicians to use AI in literature searches, proof development and verification. The talk identifies seven recurring failure modes and introduces the open-source QED multi-agent system designed to address them. A case study on constructing Carleman weights for wave equations on the half-line shows how automated search can be combined with a researcher’s mathematical insight and rigorous checking. The organizer links both the implementation and the accompanying research paper. Online via Rutgers DIMACS Zoom. Wednesday 23 September 2026, 10:00–11:00 EDT (America/New_York; UTC−4). Use the Zoom link and passcode on the official event page. Organized by the DIMACS AI and Mathematics Seminar. This listing advertises the verified remote attendance option.
AI for the Sciences: towards understanding
Klaus Robert Müller· TU Berlin & Korea University, Seoul
Tue, Sep 22 · 16:00 UTC · Vienna, Austria
ISTA Lecture by Klaus Robert Müller (TU Berlin & Korea University, Seoul) on how machine learning and AI enable scientific research, particularly in medicine and chemistry, and on explainability techniques for extracting understanding from machine learning models.
Early Sleep Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease Pathophysiology and Memory Impairment
Bryce Mander· UC Irvine School of Medicine
Fri, Sep 18 · 19:00 UTC · Stanford, United States
Bryce Mander presents research on early sleep biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology and memory impairment. The William C. Dement Seminar connects sleep and circadian neuroscience with neurodegeneration, cognition and clinically relevant approaches to detecting disease-related change.
Deciphering the Dynamics of the Unconscious Brain under General Anesthesia
Emery Brown· Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thu, Sep 17 · 19:00 UTC · Stanford, Gunn Rotunda
Stanford Neurosciences Seminar Series talk by Emery Brown (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Neuroscience Statistics Research Lab) on deciphering the dynamics of the unconscious brain under general anesthesia, hosted by the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute.
Gravitational waveform modeling with physics informed neural networks and surrogates
Nils Deppe· Cornell University
Thu, Sep 17 · 15:00 UTC · Princeton, United States
This seminar discusses a proof-of-concept gravitational-waveform model described in arXiv:2511.10522. It augments post-Newtonian equations using physics-informed neural-network methods and universal differential equations. The talk also covers ongoing development of a precessing surrogate model designed to evaluate in less than one millisecond while covering a broader portion of the LVK frequency band.
Finding Meaning in Memories
Daphna Shohamy, Ashok Litwin-Kumar· Columbia University
Wed, Sep 16 · 22:30 UTC · Jerome L. Greene Science Center, United States
Daphna Shohamy and Ashok Litwin-Kumar bridge experimental and computational neuroscience to explain how the brain assigns significance to memories, how dopamine shapes memory-guided decisions, and how bodily signals influence learning. Isabel Low moderates a public discussion and question session.
Kirk Public Lecture | An operator-algebraic perspective on topological orders
Yoshiko Ogata· Kyoto University
Wed, Sep 16 · 15:00 UTC · Cambridge, Cambridge
Kirk Public Lecture at the Isaac Newton Institute by Yoshiko Ogata (Kyoto University) on how macroscopic properties of matter emerge from quantum particle interactions and the classification of topological order from an operator-algebraic perspective in mathematical physics.
Applied MathematicsMathematical ModelingSeries: Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge
Chemistry in the Age of Abundance
Omar M. Yaghi· Tsinghua University — Distinguished Chair Professor
Recorded
Omar M. Yaghi examines how reticular chemistry changes the scale and diversity of materials that chemists can design. By joining molecular building blocks into extended structures, researchers have developed large families of metal–organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks with tunable internal spaces and functions. The lecture asks how artificial intelligence and robotics could accelerate the preparation and exploration of these materials, moving chemical discovery from scarcity toward abundance. Yaghi connects this approach to carbon capture and the collection of water from air, building on design principles for nanoporous frameworks and their applications in gas storage and separation. The discussion extends the metal–organic framework research recognised by the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry into current methods for discovery and environmental applications.
Video · 1 h 17 min · CaptionsChemistryInorganic ChemistrySeries: Collegium Helveticum and International Balzan Foundation
SQI Seminar Series: Tal Linzen, NYU
Tal Linzen· New York University; Google
Tue, Sep 15 · 20:00 UTC · Cambridge, United States
Tal Linzen, an associate professor of linguistics and data science at New York University and a research scientist at Google, will speak in MIT's Siegel Family Quest for Intelligence seminar series. His work combines behavioral experiments and computational methods to study language learning and comprehension, alongside large-language-model post-training, evaluation, and interpretability.
Canonical Quantization of Singular Configuration Spaces: Symmetry Reduction, Mass Gap Bounds, and Non-smooth Calculus
Luca Mrini· University of Vienna
Thu, Sep 10 · 18:30 UTC · Waterloo, Canada
Luca Mrini presents work in progress on quantising singular configuration spaces using the non-smooth calculus of metric-measure spaces. The framework generalises smooth quantum mechanics through Hilbert spaces, position and momentum operators, Hamiltonians, unitary dynamics, and observable algebras. A method for bounding mass gaps after symplectic reduction uses the curvature of the unreduced configuration space. Examples include the harmonic oscillator constrained to zero angular momentum, lattice Yang–Mills theory, and fractional-dimensional Laakso spaces. The talk closes with prospective applications to the Yang–Mills mass-gap problem and quantum gravity.