Prof. Dr. Dagmar Iber
ETH Zürich

Abstract
Physical forces are key determinants of biological form, complementing chemical patterning mechanisms across development and disease. Advances in 3D imaging now allow us to explore mechanical hypotheses quantitatively, but this requires dedicated algorithms. We developed Skeleplex to segment and skeletonise branched tissue architectures such as the bronchial tree, and SimuCell3D and Opticell3D to infer biophysical parameters and simulate epithelial mechanics at cellular resolution from 3D microscopy images. These tools have opened new lines of inquiry into long-standing open problems. Applied to the lung, Skeleplex reveals how tissue mechanics and fluid–structure interactions sculpt branch dimensions, wall thickness, and angles, together accounting for the globally optimal fractal architecture conserved across species of vastly different sizes. Applied to bladder cancer, morphological analysis reveals no consistent change at the cell scale at disease onset: the distinct morphologies of papillary tumours and carcinoma in situ emerge instead from a tissue-scale mechanical instability triggered by shifts in layer stiffness. Together, these results show how mechanics governs epithelial form across scales, both during normal development and at the onset of disease.

Biography
Dagmar Iber studied mathematics and biochemistry in Regensburg, Cambridge, and Oxford. She holds Master degrees and PhDs in both disciplines. After three years as a Junior Research Fellow in St John's College, Oxford, she became a Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Imperial College London. She has been a professor at ETH Zurich since 2008 after returning to academia from an investment bank where she worked as an oil option trader for one year.

Location
Seminar Room, 0.125, Kussmaulallee 2
Location Details

Zoom
https://eu02web.zoom-x.de/j/63437134467?pwd=WFLcOIHxGdwvDj3btcWtSRuGiq69ro.1
Meeting-ID: 634 3713 4467
Kenncode: 737354