CMSA

Mathematics and Biology I: Morphometry, Morphogenesis and Mathematics
2026-02-23 09:00 - 2026-03-13 17:00 (America/New_York) | CMSA 20 Garden Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 United States
Mathematics and Biology I: Morphometry, Morphogenesis and Mathematics
Dates: February 23–March 13, 2026
Location: Harvard CMSA, Room G10, 20 Garden Street, Cambridge MA
Mathematics, Morphometry and Morphogenesis is a 3-week program at the Harvard CMSA, which will bring together researchers from a few different communities with a common aim—to understand shape and its development and evolution in living matter.
The aim is to bring together those interested in evolutionary and developmental biology, soft and active matter physics, and differential, discrete and computational geometry and topology, especially with a statistical bent. Although each of these fields has developed powerful tools and deep insights into form, function, and dynamics, opportunities for them to meet and interact are rare. This workshop aims to foster dialogue and discovery across these disciplinary boundaries—where paleontologists, developmental biologists, physicists, computer scientists and mathematicians can exchange ideas, identify shared challenges, and spark new collaborations. We envision this as a chance not only to showcase exciting advances within each domain, but also to chart new directions together at the intersection of evolution, development, and geometry.
The first week will have a few tutorials on developmental and evolutionary aspects of morphology, computational geometry, statistics and dynamical systems, along with a workshop-style meeting with research talks, setting the stage for longer stays and new collaborations over the following weeks.

Registration is required.
Register Online

Week 1: Feb 23–27, 2026: Workshop on MMM
Week 2-3: March 2–6 & 9–13, 2026: Collaborations and discussions

Topics include:
🧬 Organoids & Tissue-Engineered Models
🔬 Computational Imaging & Geometry
⚙️ Biophysics, Mechanics & Theory
🌱 Developmental Biology & Evo-Devo

Speakers:

Salem al-Mosleh, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Vanessa Barone, Stanford University
Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, Yale
Alain Chedotal, Institut de la Vision
Gary P.T. Choi, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Stefano Di Talia, Duke University
Paul Francois, McGill University
Jianping Fu, University of Michigan
Thomas Gregor, Princeton
Sahand Hormoz, Harvard
Helen James, Smithsonian Institution
Allon Klein, Harvard Medical School
Elena Kramer, Harvard University
Thomas Lecuit, College de France & IBDM
Daniel Lew, MIT
M. Lisa Manning, Syracuse
Noah Mitchell, University of Chicago
Akankshi Munjal, Duke
Nipam Patel, MBL Woods Hole
Olivier Pourquié, Harvard Medical School
Adrienne Roeder, Cornell University
Karen Sears, UC Los Angeles
Mattia Serra, UC Santa Barbara
Suraj Shankar, University of Michigan
Anuj Srivastava, Florida State University
Sebastian Streichan, UC Santa Barbara
Berta Verd, University of Oxford

Organizers:

Salem al-Mosleh, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Vanessa Barone, Stanford
L. Mahadevan, Harvard
Akankshi Munjal, Duke
Olivier Pourquie, Harvard

Schedule
Week 1: Feb 23–27, 2026 – Workshop

Monday, 2/23/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Tutorial: Anuj Srivastava

10:30–11:00 am
Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Tutorial: Anuj Srivastava

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch: CMSA Common Room, catered

1:30–2:15 pm
Research Talk: Noah Mitchell

2:15–3:00 pm
Research Talk: TBD

Tuesday, 2/24/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Tutorial: Mattia Serra

10:30–11:00 am
Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Tutorial: Mattia Serra

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm
Research Talk: Paul Francois

2:15–3:00 pm
Research Talk: TBD

Wednesday, 2/25/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Tutorial: Akankshi Munjal

10:30–11:00 am
Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Tutorial: Olivier Pourquie

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm
Research Talk: Allon Klein

2:15–3:00 pm
Research Talk: TBD

Thursday, 2/26/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Tutorial: Keenan Crane

10:30–11:00 am
Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Tutorial: Keenan Crane

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm
Research Talk: Salem Al-Mosleh

2:15–3:00 pm
Research Talk: TBD

Friday, 2/27/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Tutorial: Vanessa Barone

10:30–11:00 am
Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Tutorial: Helen James

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm
Research Talk: Alain Chedotal

2:15–3:00 pm
Research Talk: Jianping Fu

Week 2: March 2–5, 2026

Monday, 3/2/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Tutorial: Thomas Lecuit

10:30–11:00 am
Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Tutorial: Suraj Shankar

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch: CMSA Common Room, catered

1:30–2:15 pm
Research Talk: Danny Lew

2:15–3:00 pm
Research Talk: TBD

Tuesday, 3/3/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Tutorial: Adrienne Roeder

10:30–11:00 am
Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Tutorial: Gary Choi

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm
Research Talk: Akankshi Munjal

2:15–3:00 pm
Research Talk: TBD

Wednesday, 3/4/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Tutorial: Stefano Di Talia

10:30–11:00 am
Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Tutorial: Lisa Manning

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm
Research Talk: Nipam Patel

2:15–3:00 pm
Research Talk: TBD

Thursday, 3/5/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Tutorial: Sebastian Streichen

10:30–11:00 am
Tea Break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Tutorial: Berta Verd

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm
Research Talk: Elena Kramer

2:15–3:00 pm
Research Talk: TBD

Week 3: March 9–11, 2026

Monday, 3/9/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Research talk: TBA

10:30–11:00 am
Tea break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Research talk: TBA

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch: CMSA Common Room, catered

1:30–2:15 pm
Research talk: Purnati Khuntia

Tuesday, 3/10/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Research talk: TBA

10:30–11:00 am
Tea break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Research talk: Karen Sears

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch Break

1:30–2:15 pm
Research talk: Yohannes Bellaiche

Wednesday, 3/11/26

9:00–9:30 am
Breakfast

9:30–10:30 am
Research talk: Thomas Gregor

10:30–11:00 am
Tea break

11:00 am–12:00 pm
Research talk: Cassandra Extavour

12:00–1:30 pm
Lunch: CMSA Common Room, catered

1:30–2:15 pm
Research talk: TBA
