Welcome
Hi ! I am Darshan, a Cells/Neuromathematics scientist at the Open Brain Institute (OBI), Laussane, Switzerland. OBI is a open-source simulation neuroscience platform developed by the EPFL-Blue Brain Project (BBP). OBI's goal is to advance the understanding of the brain by providing access to state-of-the-art data exploration, modeling, and simulation techniques. Before joining OBI, I was a postdoctoral reseracher at BBP, Geneva. I construct and simulate detailed mathematical models of biological neurons and glial cells to hypothesise and predict the causes of unanswered biological phenomena.
At present, I am the lead scientist building detailed single neuron electrical models at OBI for large-scale brain simulations. I also develop and maintain open source software used for these single cell models such as BluePyEModel, BlueCelluLab, eFEL and BluePyOpt.
Research and Education
I did my PhD in Computational Neurophysiology at Indian institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay under Dr. Rohit Manchanda . My doctoral and masters thesis work involved the use of computational tools like NEURON and Scilab to model the peripheral sensory neurons – Dorsal Root Ganglion (DRG) Neurons – supplying the urinary bladder. I built biophysically detailed single cell and coupled computational models of Neurons and Satellite Glial Cells, and simplified neural network for the bladder relfex pathway.
I have a Masters (IIT Bombay) and Bachelors (NIT Raipur) in Technology in Biomedical Engineering. I also had a brief stint as a market research analyst at Cognizant. I have guided several undergraduates, postgraduates and doctoral students in their research projects during my research career. I have also been a teaching assistant for international and institute courses on Computational Neuroscience and Biomedical Instrumentation.
Publications
Journal- A multiscale electro-metabolic model of a rat neocortical circuit reveals the impact of ageing on central cortical layers. bioRxiv, 2024-12.
- BlueCelluLab: Biologically Detailed Neural Network Experimentation API A high-level python API for the NEURON simulator to perform simulations and experiments on individual cells or groups of cells.
- A Multimodal Fitting Approach to Construct Single-Neuron Models With Patch Clamp and High-Density Microelectrode Arrays A novel computational approach to use Extracellular and Intracellular electrophysiology data to construct detailed single neuron models. (Journal Issue Cover)
- A universal workflow for creation, validation, and generalization of detailed neuronal models A workflow to create detailed single neuron models for large-scale brain simulations. (Journal Issue Cover)
- Modeling and Simulation of Neocortical Micro- and Mesocircuitry. Part II: Physiology and Experimentation (Preprint) Rat Somatosensory Cortex Microcircuit Model.
- D. Mandge and R. Manchanda, A biophysically detailed computational model of urinary bladder small DRG neuron soma PLOS Computational Biology, 14(7): e1006293. 2018. (Model Links: ModelDB, GitHub). This paper was awarded one of the Best Paper Award by Dept.of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay. The article was featured on the PLOS Computational Biology website (image) and twitter page. A layman's description of important results of the paper can be found on the Research Matters webpage.
- D. Mandge, P.R. Shukla, A. Bhatnagar and R. Manchanda, (2019, July)."Computational Model for Cross-Depolarization in DRG Neurons via Satellite Glial Cells using [K]o: Role of Kir4.1 Channels and Extracellular Leakage". In Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC) , 2019 41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE, Berlin, 2019, pp.2320-2023
- D. Mandge, A. Bhatnagar and R. Manchanda, “Computational Model for Intercellular Communication between DRG Neurons via Satellite Glial Cells using ATP.” 2017 8th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering (NER), Shanghai, 2017.
- S. Aruljothi, D. Mandge, and R. Manchanda, “A Biophysical Model of Heat Sensitivity in Nociceptive C-Fiber Neurons.” 2017 8th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering (NER), Shanghai, 2017.
- D. Mandge and R. Manchanda, "Computational studies on bladder small dorsal root ganglion neurons: Modelling BK channels." 2015 37th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Milan, 2015, pp. 5376-5379
Presentation and Talks
- EITN Fall School in Computational Neuroscience 2023
- List of some useful links in computational Neuroscience
- "An Introductory Talk on Computational Neuroscience" at BioTech Club, IIT Bombay (March 2016)
- Talk on "Network Level Models in Computational Neuroscience" for students of Sophia College For Women, IIT Bombay (March 2014)
- "Lecture on the Hodgkin-Huxley Model" for a short course on Mathematical Modelling for Neurophysiology using Open Source Softwares at Govt. Engineering College, Chandrapur, Maharashtra (February 2014)
- Interactive tools to learn Nernst and GHK equations
- ModelDb entry and NEURON-python code for Mandge and Manchanda 2018
- Ion Concentration Clamp in NEURON
- Multiple Successive Voltage Clamps in NEURON
- Ramp Current Clamp in NEURON
Codes
- (Github Profile)