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Project Title: (S-KELOID)  Understanding Keloid Disorders: A multi-scale in vitro/ in vivo/ in silico approach towards digital twins of skin organoids on the chip

Scientific Coordinators: R. Eftimie (for France), S. Bordas (for Luxembourg)

French Team:

LMB: Raluca Eftimie, Alexei Lozinski; Michel Duprez (INRIA, Strasbourg);+ Olusegun Adebayo (PhD student, 2022-2025); + Ali Daher (Postdoc, 2025-2026)

  • + Rita Theresa El Kahi (Master student @ISIFC working with R. Eftimie)
  • + Fareeha Afzal (Master student @ISIFC working with R. Eftimie)

CHU (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire) Besançon: Gwenaël Rolin, Thomas Lihoreau, Brice Chatelain ; + Yasmin El Mahi (PhD student)

FEMTO: Jérôme Chambert, Emmanuelle Jacquet, Arnaud Lejeune ; + Marc Prudhome (Postdoc)

Luxembourg Team:

Luxembourg: Stéphane Bordas, Lars Been, Jack Hale ; + Stéphane Urcun (Postdoc, 2022-2025)

Consortium meetings: 25/02/2026 ; 26/03/2025 ; 16/12/2024 ; 26/03/2024 ; 9/10/2023 ; 15/05/2023 ; 12/09/2022 ; 2/05/2022 ; 7/03/2022 ; 9/02/2022 ;

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ReseArch Knowledge dissemination to the general public :

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Publications related to this ANR-funded project:

Published articles (in bold are the ANR consortium members)

A. Daher, D. Trucu, R. Eftimie (2026). Calibrating Tissue Level PDE Models of Ligand Dynamics Using Single Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics Data. Accepted in npj Systems Biology and Applications.

S. Urcun, Y. El Mahi, R. Eftimie, Z. Dirand, G. Rolin, S.P.A. Bordas. (2026) Simple cellular Potts model of scratch assays on healthy and keloid fibroblasts driven by contact inhibition of locomotion. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 622, 112365 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2025.112365)

T. Lavigne, S. Urcun, E. Jacquet, J. Chambert, A. Elouneg, A., C.A. Suarez-Afanador, S.P.A. Bordas, G. Sciumè & P.Y. Rohan, P. Y. (2025). Poromechanical modelling of the time-dependent response of in vivo human skin during extension. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 41(12) (DOI: 10.1002/cnm.70111)

A. Elouneg, A. Lejeune, G. Rolin, T. Lihoreau, B. Chatelain, S. Bordas, E. Jacquet, J. Chambert, (2025). Assessment of anisotropic mechanical response of human skin: insights from a clinical trial. Biomechanics and Modelling in Mechanobiology, 24(3), 1085–1102

J. Marguet, R. Eftimie, A. Lozinski (2025). Numerical Approaches for Non-Local Transport-Dominated PDE Models with Applications to Biology. Computational and Applied Mathematics , 44: 199

O.E. Adebayo, B. Chatelain, D. Trucu, R. Eftimie (2025). Deep Learning Approaches for the Classification of Keloid Images in the Context of Malignant and Benign Skin Disorders. Diagnostics, 2025, 15(6), 710; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15060710

Huu Phuoc Bui, Michel Duprez, Pierre-Yves Rohan, Arnaud Lejeune, Stéphane Pierre Alain Bordas, Marek Bucki, Franz Chouly (2025) Enhancing biomechanical simulations based on a posteriori error estimates: the potential of Dual Weighted Residual-driven adaptive mesh refinement. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 2025, 41 (1), (hal-04208610)

C.A.S. Afanador, S. Urcun, I.F. Sbalzarini, S.P.A. Bordas, O. Barrera, M. M. Rajabi, R. Seil, A. Obeidat (2025). Mechanics of knee meniscus results from precise balance between material microstructure and synovial fluid viscosity. PLoS One 20(9): e0304440. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304440

Z. Dirand, M. Maraux, M. Tissot, B. Chatelain, D. Supp, C. Vinet, S. Perruche, G. Rolin (2024). Macrophage phenotype is determinant for fibrosis development in keloid disease. Matrix Biology., 128:79–92 (DOI: 10.1016/j.matbio.2024.03.001)

O.E. Adebayo, D. Trucu, R. Eftimie (2024). Analytical investigation of a non-local mathematical model for normal and abnormal wound healing: stability and existence of local solutions. Discrete and Continuous Dynamical Systems – Series B. ( doi:10.3934/dcdsb.2024171 ).

Andaloussi, M. A., Urcun, S., Huscht, A., Arroteia, I. F., Sciumès, G., Bordas, S., & Hertel, F. (2024). Malignant transformation of low-grade astrocytomas through a mechano-biological triggering hypothesis: Imaging-Informed Modelling. Chapter in ” Modelling And Computational Approaches For Multi-scale Phenomena in Cancer Research: From Cancer Evolution To Cancer Treatment”, pp. 213-252.

Z. Dirand, M. Tissot, B. Chatelain, C. Viennet, G. Rolin, (2023). Is Spheroid a Relevant Model to Address Fibrogenesis in Keloid Research? Biomedicines, 11, 2350. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11092350

R Eftimie, G Rolin, O Adebayo, S Urcun, F Chouly, SPA Bordas (2023). Modelling Keloids Dynamics: A Brief Review and New Mathematical Perspectives, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 85 (12), 117 (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11538-023-01222-8)

OE Adebayo, S Urcun, G Rolin, SPA Bordas, D Trucu, R Eftimie (2023). Mathematical investigation of normal and abnormal wound healing dynamics: local and non-local model , Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering 20 (9), 17446-17498 (https://doi.org/10.3934/mbe.2023776)

I Pajic-Lijakovic, R Eftimie, M Milivojevic, SPA Bordas (2023). The dynamics along the biointerface between the epithelial and cancer mesenchymal cells: Modeling consideration , Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 147, 47-57 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1084952122003780)

I Pajic-Lijakovic, R Eftimie, M Milivojevic, SPA Bordas (2023). The rearrangement of co-cultured cellular model systems via collective cell migration ,Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 147, 34-46 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1084952122002890)

I Pajic-Lijakovic, R Eftimie, M Milivojevic, SPA Bordas (2023). Multi-scale nature of the tissue surface tension: Theoretical consideration on tissue model systems , Advances in Colloid and Interface Science, 102902 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001868623000696)

R Eftimie, A Mavrodin, SPA Bordas (2023). From digital control to digital twins in medicine: A brief review and future perspectives , Advances in Applied Mechanics 56, 323-368

A. Elouneg, J. Chambert, A. Lejeune, Q. Lucot, E. Jacquet, et al. (2023) Anisotropic mechanical characterization of human skin by in vivo multi-axial ring suction test. Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials, 141, pp.105779 (18).

R Eftimie (2022). Grand challenges in mathematical biology: Integrating multi-scale modeling and data , Frontiers Appl. Math. Stat 26 (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fams.2022.1010622/full)

N. Abaid, R. Eftimie, A. Hutt, L. van Veen (2022). Modelling Collective Motion Across Scales Frontiers in Applied Mathematics and Statistics 8, 932364 (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fams.2022.932364/full)

Articles in preparation & Submitted:

O. Adebayo, R. Eftimie, D. Trucu. Condition number for finite element discretisation of nonlocal PDE systems with applications to biology (Submitted)

R. Eftimie, G. Eftimie (2026). Computational investigation into the formation of nodules and cords during the evolution of the fibroproliferative Dupuytren Disorder (submitted)

PhD Theses:

  • O. Adebayo (2025). Mathematical modelling, analysis, and numerical approaches for keloid dynamics. University Marie & Louis Pasteur, Besançon, France

MSc R&D Projects:

  • R.T. El Kahi (2023-2024; ISIFC, Besançon): Project title “Modelling inflammatory aspects during keloid formation“
  • F. Afzal (2023-2024; ISIFC, Besançon): Project title: “Keloid biomarker identification using single-cell and bulk RNA-seq data and machine learning“

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Conference Presentations/Posters of the work funded by this S-Keloid project

(“S-Keloid”-funded members are in bold) :

R. Eftimie (2026). Single-scale and multi-scale mathematical approaches for tumour-immune interactions: a focus on macrophage populations .Talk a M2M. From Micro to Macro in Mathematical Biology. Recent advances in modelling and analysis of biological systems. 09-11 February, Turin, Italy

F. Afzal, R. Eftimie (2025), Keloid Biomarker identification using machine learning and gene expression data. Poster presentation at the “Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology/European Conference on Computational Biology (ISMB/ECCB)”, 20-24 July, 2025, Liverpool, UK 

A. Daher, (2025) Integrating Genetic Sequencing Data with PINNs for Spatiotemporal Modeling of Skin Wound Healing , The CompSysBio 2025 Conference and Lectures (October 2025 in Aussois, France):

A. Daher (2025). Modelling Random Adsorption in Biological Membranes. Unrelated to Keloids/Skin healing (Centuri Living Systems, June 2025):

A. Daher, (2025). Integrating high-throughput genomic data with biologically-informed models of spatiotemporal dynamics of skin lesions: a computational parameter extraction pipeline. Annual Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB) Meeting, 13-18 July, Edmonton, Canada

R. Eftimie (2025), Single-scale and multi-scale models of viral infections and anti-viral immune responses. Talk at the “Differential Equations and Applications to Biology 2025. A conference in the memory of Pierre Magal.

G Rolin, Z. Dirand, M. Tissot, C. Viennet. Can we consider spheroids as a relevant 3D model for keloid study? 4th Keloid symposium; Montpellier, 7-9 octobre 2022.

Z. Dirand, M. Tissot, M. Maraux, B. Baffert, S. Perruche, C. Viennet, G. Rolin. Keloid resolution through fibrotic fibroblasts and macrophages interaction study. 4th International Keloid symposium; Montpellier, 7-9 octobre 2022.
S. Bordas, S. Urcun, R. Eftimie, S-Keloid Project, Data-Driven Mathematical Modeling. 4th International Keloid symposium; Montpellier, 7-9 octobre 2022..

A. Elouneg, D. Sutula, A. Lejeune, J. Chambert, S. Bordas, E. Jacquet. Tissue-scale modeling of keloids to prevent their growth. 4th International Keloid symposium; Montpellier, 7-9 octobre 2022.

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Conference organisation

  • 29-30 January 2024: Journées Numériques de Besançon 2024: “Data Driven Computing and Modelling in Biology” (Besançon Numerical Days 2024)