Contact
Massey University
NZIAS
Gate 4, Building 12
Oteha Rohe, Albany
Auckland, New Zealand
+64 9 4140800 ext 41585
e(dot)libby(shift2)massey.ac.nz
Eric Libby, PhD
I am interested in how stochastic switching phenotypes arise and their role as a substrate for the evolution of multicellular organisms.
Background
My training is in mathematical and computational techniques applied to problems in biology.
PhD in quantitative physiology with Leon Glass in the Centre for Nonlinear Dynamics at McGill University.
Undergraduate in computational and applied mathematics with Steve Cox at Rice University.
Research interests
I am exploring evolutionary routes to multicellularity in a collaborative effort with experimentalists Katrin Hammerschmidt and Caroline Rose and fellow theoretician Yuriy Pichugin. Additionally, I am investigating collective decision making models in animal throngs and the selective pressures that shape them.
Publications
Libby E, Rainey PB. (2011) Exclusion rules, bottlenecks and the evolution of stochastic phenotype switching. Proc Biol Sci. 2011 May 4. [Epub ahead of print]
Rainey PB, Beaumont HJE, Ferguson GC, Gallie J, Kost C, Libby E, Zhang X-X (2011) The evolutionary emergence of stochastic phenotype switching in bacteria. Microb Cell Fact. 10(Suppl 1):S14.
Ritchie SR, Fraser JD, Libby E, Morris AJ, Rainey PB, Thomas MG. (2011) Demographic variation in community-based MRSA skin and soft tissue infection in Auckland, New Zealand. NZ Med J. 124(1332):21-30.
Libby E, Glass L. (2010) The calculus of committee composition. PLoS One. Sep 17;5(9):e12642.
Cardin S, Pelletier P, Libby E, Le Bouter S, Xiao L, Kaab S, Demolombe S, Glass L, Nattel S. (2008) Marked differences between atrial and ventricular gene-expression remodeling in dogs with experimental heart failure. J Mol Cell Cardiol. 45(6):821-31.
Burstein B, Libby E, Calderone A, Nattel S. (2008) Differential behaviors of atrial versus ventricular fibroblasts: a potential role for platelet-derived growth factor in atrial-ventricular remodeling differences. Circulation 117(13):1630-41.
Libby E, Perkins TJ, Swain PS. (2007) Noisy information processing through transcriptional regulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 104(17):7151-6.
Cardin S, Libby E, Pelletier P, Le Bouter S, Shiroshita-Takeshita A, Le Meur N, Leger J, Demolombe S, Ponton A, Glass L, Nattel S. (2007) Contrasting gene expression profiles in two canine models of atrial fibrillation. Circ Res. 100(3):425-33.
Wang TT, Tavera-Mendoza LE, Laperriere D, Libby E, MacLeod NB, Nagai Y, Bourdeau V, Konstorum A, Lallemant B, Zhang R, Mader S, White JH. (2005) Large-scale in silico and microarray-based identification of direct 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 target genes. Mol Endocrinol. 19(11):2685-95.
Scientific Journalism
As part of the AAAS Mass Media fellowship, I had the honor of working at Voice of America. Here are a few stories from my brief tenure:
Squid Study Sheds Light on Benign Bacteria Communication