mathematical biology is an interdisciplinary field that uses mathematics to understand biological processes. this area of study seeks to model, analyze, interpret, and predict various biological phenomena by means of both novel and existing mathematical techniques. its scope of application ranges from the microscopic level, such as cellular processes and genetic networks, to the macroscopic level, including the dynamics of organisms, populations, ecosystems, and evolutionary biology. by formulating mathematical models, mathematicians can describe biological systems, predict their behavior under different conditions, and gain insights into their underlying mechanisms. these models can take the form of ordinary and partial differential equations, stochastic processes, statistical models, and computational simulations, allowing for a quantitative understanding of complex biological interactions.specific areas of interest in the department include the following diverse topics: evolutionary biology and ecology, modeling of cancer, virus dynamics/epidemiology, collective and spatiotemporal dynamics of bacterial colonies/biofilms, soft and living matter, epigenetic cell memory, genetic networks,  stochastic biochemical reaction networks, models and simulations of bimolecular conformational changes and molecular recognition with application to drug design,  computational studies of cell shapes and movements, biological pattern formation, and developmental biology. the studies of complex social phenomena also belong under the scope of mathematical life sciences, and include modeling of evolution of language, learning, categorization, and human behavior in general.

faculty

vishal patil
vishal patil

research areas

mathematical biology

mathematical modeling and applied analysis

natalia komarova
natalia komarova

research areas

mathematical biology

mathematical modeling and applied analysis

additional faculty

photo of li-tien cheng
li-tien cheng

research areas

numerical differential equations

mathematical biology

image processing

level set methods

photo of bo li
bo li

research areas

mathematical modeling and applied analysis

mathematical biology

biological physics

continuum mechanics

applied pde and dynamical systems

numerical analysis and scientific computing

photo of jason schweinsberg
jason schweinsberg

research areas

probability theory

mathematical biology

stochastic processes

photo of ruth williams
ruth williams

research areas

probability theory

mathematical biology

stochastic processes