Researcher in Applied Mathematics
Professor (Full) and Department Chair
Department of Mathematics, Brandeis University
& Volen National Center for Complex Systems,
415 South Street
Waltham, MA 02453
USA
office: Goldsmith 310
email: jtouboul (at) brandeis (dot) edu
Research description – Publications – Resume
Thanks for visiting my webpage! I am an applied mathematician passionate about biology, particularly neuroscience. I am currently Professor of Mathematics at Brandeis University and Chair of Mathematics, and am affiliated with the Volen National Center for Complex Systems and the Neuroscience Graduate program.
Prior to this (see my Resume), I was a group leader at Collège de France, in the heart of old Paris, and my lab was hosted in the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology.
I prepared my PhD in applied mathematics at Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris) and the doctoral school of Mathematics and Applications from École Polytechnique in 2009. I was then a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Mathematics at Pittsburgh University (under the mentoring of Bard Ermentrout) and the Mathematical Physics laboratory of the Rockefeller University in New-York (mentored by Marcelo Magnasco), before I joined Collège de France in 2010.
My work (see Publications list) covers a spectrum of applied maths problems, from more abstract questions in dynamical systems and stochastic processes to collaborative work with experimental biologists. I develop and analyze mathematical models of brain activity across multiple scales—from single neurons to large neural populations—as well as models of plasticity, Parkinson’s disease and its treatments, and early brain development. In parallel, I study the impact of climate change on vegetation dynamics, focusing on how ecosystems respond to variations in temperature and precipitation. In all these endeavors, we enthusiastically collaborate with experimentalists, sometimes analyze their data, and always develop mathematical models to study as analytically as possible.
In the rare times when I'm not working on a research project, you'll find me enjoying time with my daughter and wonderful family, reading a book, or tinkering with whatever random mid-century radio, oscilloscope, or antique motorcycle that fell on my lap!
Selected publications (updated in 2020):
In vitro characterization of the human segmentation clock (Margarete Diaz-Cuadros, Daniel E. Wagner, Christoph Budjan, Alexis Hubaud, Oscar A. Tarazona, Sophia Donelly, Arthur Michaut, Ziad Al Tanoury, Kumiko Yoshioka-Kobayashi, Yusuke Niino, Ryoichiro Kageyama, Atsushi Miyawaki, Jonathan Touboul & Olivier Pourquié) Nature (2020).
Opto-activation of cortical somatostatin interneurons alleviates parkinsonian symptoms (Marie Vandecasteele, Sebastien Valverde, Charlotte Piette, Giuseppe Gangarossa, Willy Derousseaux, Asier Aristieta Arbelaiz, Jonathan Touboul*, Bertrand Degos*, Laurent Venance*), Nature Communications (2020).
Noise-induced synchronization and anti-resonance in interacting excitable systems; Applications to Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson’s Disease (J. Touboul, C. Piette, L. Venance, G. Bard Ermentrout) – Physical Review X, in press (2020).
On the complex dynamics of savanna landscapes (J. Touboul, A.C. Staver, S.A. Levin), Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA (PNAS Plus) – 115 (7) E1336-E1345 (2018)
Press Coverage: SIAM News, Nov. 2018
On a kinetic Fizhugh-Nagumo model of neuronal network (with Stéphane Mischler and Cristóbal Quiñinao), Communications in Mathematical Physics 342 (3) pp 1001–1042 (2016).
The Hipster Effect: When anticonformist all look the same (DCDS-B, to appear). Press Coverage: see the dedicated page.
Recent and upcoming seminars (come say hi!):
AMS Eastern Sectional meeting, Special session on mathematical modeling of ecological and evolutionary Dynamics (3/29/2026)
University of Iowa Mathematical Biology Seminar (3/2/2026)
Institut Pasteur (Paris, France) special seminar (2/19/2026)
NeuroPSI (Paris, France) special seminar (2/18/2026)
Brandeis Mathematical Biology Seminar (1/28/2026)
Applied and Computational Mathematics Seminar, UT Austin, Texas (10/5/2025)
International Conference on Mathematical Neuroscience (Plenary Speaker), Barcelona, June 17-20, 2025.
Networks Seminar, University of Houston (1/31/2025)