Richard Bertram

Professor, Department of Mathematics
Graduate Faculty Member, Institute of Molecular Biophysics
Graduate Faculty Member, Program in Neuroscience
Florida State University

Photo credit: Devin Bittner

Academic Appointments and Honors

Current Funding

Professional Service

Teaching Links

Syllabus
Assignments
Biomathematics journal club, Journal club

Current Research Interests

Activity of Pancreatic Beta-Cells

Pancreatic beta-cells are located in islets of Langerhans in the pancreas and are the only cells in the body that secrete insulin,
a hormone that is necessary for the uptake of glucose by other cells. Defects in beta-cell functioning lead to diabetes, which can result
in death if not treated. The release of insulin is controlled by many physiological variables, including the cell's electrical activity,
calcium, and nucleotide concentrations. I work in the development and analysis of mathematical models of beta-cell activity as well as
potential methods for islet syncrhonization.

Hypothalamic Control of Hormone Secretion

The hypothalamus is the region of the brain that regulates the level and timing of hormone release from endocrine glands. One such gland,
the pituitary, is located near the hypothalamus, and secretions from this gland regulate secretions from other glands. For this reason, the
pituitary is sometimes called the "master gland". The hypothalamus sends both stimulatory and inhibitory input to the pituitary, resulting in
neural regulation of secretion from gonadotrophs, somatotrophs, corticotrophs, melanotrophs, and lactotrophs. I develop mathematical models
of pituitary cells, and work with collaborators to test model predictions and design new experiments.

Bursting Oscillations in Excitable Cells

In nerve cells, information is transmitted through electrical impulses. Electrical impulses also cause muscles to contract and endocrine cells
to secrete hormones. Quite often, impulses are generated as high-frequency bursts, followed by periods of quiescence. This is particularly true in
endocrine cells such as pancreatic beta-cells and pituitary cells. I am interested both in the dynamics of bursting (a mathematical topic) and in
the mechanisms by which different cells generate periodic bursts of impulses (a biological topic).

Biological Networks and Data Science

Many biological systems can be described as networks of interacting parts. I study networks of neurons and hormone-secreting endocrine cells, as well as
gene transcription networks. This research uses techniques from network science, statistics, and data science. Current applications are to the neural
coding of taste and food temperature in the gustatory cortex, networks of hypothalamic neurons and pituitary cells, and gene transcription networks related
to the study of the disease sepsis.

Publications

Neural Models
Pancreatic Beta-Cells
Synaptic Transmission
Structural Biology
Hypothalamus and Pituitary
Neural Basis of Birdsong
Bursting Analysis
Cardiac Models
Other Topics

Lab Members

Students and Collaborators

Computer Software

Structural Biology
Hypothalamus and Pituitary
Synaptic Transmission
Pancreatic Islet
Neuron
Birdsong
Bursting Analysis
Cardiac Models
Other Topics

Biomathematics program

Video

Biophysics group

SCUBA

Music and Math

Videos

Full CV

Address

Prof. Richard Bertram
Department of Mathematics
Florida State University
Tallahassee, Fl 32306

tel.: (850)-644-7632 (IMB office)
e-mail: rbertram@fsu.edu