Functional linear regression that's interpretable

The design and processing of materials with novel physical and mechanical properties requires a fundamental understanding of the connections between processing, microstructure, and properties. For example, mechanical properties in pure metals and alloys can be varied by manipulating the polycrystalline grain size or the size of the compositional domains through heat treatment, while elastic strain provides a way to tune the optical properties of self-assembled quantum dots during growth. In an analogous manner, the biological function of cell membranes is strongly affected by the details of the local "microstructure".

Typically, microstructural evolution takes place across multiple length and time scales, ranging from atomistic to mesoscopic ones. In this talk I will describe our recent efforts in developing physically-based, coarse-grained continuum models, which bridge the atomistic and mesoscopic scales, to elucidate lateral organization and non-equilibrium dynamics of heterogeneous lipid bilayers. In particular, I will focus on spatially organized, dynamic heterogeneities in the local lipid composition ("lipid rafts") which have been implicated in many important cellular processes including signal transduction, membrane trafficking, cytoskeleton organization, and pathogen entry.