Engineering better sleep
Jr-Shin Li plans to develop advanced mathematical models to decode circadian rhythms and tackle chronic sleep disorders
Complex biological networks control a range of functions in the human body from metabolic processes to the sleep cycle. Though scientists have ever-increasing volumes of data about the effects these complex systems produce, fully describing them mathematically has proven difficult. Without a firm understanding, effective interventions continue to be elusive, leaving more than 50 million Americans suffering from chronic sleep disorders.
Jr-Shin Li in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis received a three-year, $1.2 million research grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health, to support his work using advanced math to better understand and control biological systems, specifically our body's internal clock, or circadian rhythms.
Li, the Newton R. and Sarah Louisa Glasgow Wilson Professor in the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering at WashU, studies complex large-scale systems in physics, biology and medicine. By understanding the fundamental mathematics behind these systems, Li aims to discover new interdisciplinary applications.
In his new project, Li is developing a novel mathematical tool, the moment kernel machine (MKM), that will create accurate yet simple models to describe how complex systems, including dynamic biological networks, function. This tool can then be used to develop interpretable, data-driven techniques to control and learn from large-scale high-dimensional dynamical systems.
“This is a fundamental yet challenging problem,” Li said. “Understanding and being able to control complex biological networks is essential to address the array of issues that can come from our circadian rhythms getting out of step with environmental cues, including really common problems like insomnia. My work uses transformative mathematical techniques to model complex systems, then design signals that can generate collective behavior and structures, such as synchronization patterns, we want.”
With MKM, Li plans to model a group of neurons in the brain that controls daily rhythms – known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) – with the goal to answer important questions about how animals, including humans, adapt to changes in the environment. In collaboration with Erik Herzog, the Viktor Hamburger Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences at WashU, and Istvan Kiss, Arts and Sciences Professor of Chemistry at Saint Louis University, Li aims to use this tool to learn from gene activity in the SCN and design light schedules that improve sleep patterns, especially for young and aging individuals.
By decoding the complexities of circadian rhythms, Li’s work could lead to better treatments for sleep-related issues like insomnia and jet lag, as well as timing-based disorders like seasonal affective disorder and shift-work disorder.
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