Parameter identifiability and model selection for partial differential equation models of cell invasion

When employing mechanistic models to study biological phenomena, practical parameter identifiability is important for making accurate predictions across wide ranges of unseen scenarios, as well as for understanding the underlying mechanisms. In this work, we use a profile-likelihood approach to investigate parameter identifiability for four extensions of the Fisher–Kolmogorov–Petrovsky–Piskunov (Fisher–KPP) model, given experimental data from a cell invasion assay. We show that more complicated models tend to be less identifiable, with parameter estimates being more sensitive to subtle differences in experimental procedures, and that they require more data to be practically identifiable. As a result, we suggest that parameter identifiability should be considered alongside goodness-of-fit and model complexity as criteria for model selection.