Research Seminar – Tim van der Zee
December 8 @ 9:00 am – 10:00 am
Join us for our next IMSI Research Seminar! Seminars are open to the public — please email CIMS@uci.edu for Zoom information.
Title: Supra-resonance, ultra-fast muscles, and evolutionary transitions underlying the diverse flight of insects
Speaker: Dr. Tim van der Zee (KU Leuven)
Date: Tuesday, Dec 8, 9-10am Pacific Time
Abstract: Skeletal muscles enable us to move by producing forces at the cost of metabolic energy. While the energetics of muscle contraction have been characterized in controlled experiments, we currently lack a mechanistic understanding of muscle energy consumption during real-life movement. To gain insight into the metabolic cost of movement, I developed multi-scale computational models that start from the molecular mechanisms underlying muscle energetics (i.e. cross-bridge cycling and calcium transport), and scale up to interface with tendon and bone for integration in whole-body movement simulation. My ultimate goal is to use this multi-scale modeling framework to obtain insights into the metabolic cost of movement that can guide the design of rehabilitation approaches.
Speaker Bio: Tim van der Zee is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Human Movement Biomechanics Research Group in the Department of Movement Science at KU Leuven (Belgium). Dr. van der Zee earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Calgary and his B.S. and M.S. in Human Movement Sciences from VU Amsterdam (the Netherlands). His research focuses on understanding skeletal muscle mechanics and energetics, and their effect on our daily movements. He integrates in vivo experimentation, muscle ultrasonography, and computational modeling to bridge insights across scales.
Learn more about the Integrative Movement Sciences Institute (IMSI) at MovementScience.uci.edu