I am currently a postdoc in the Division of Applied Mathematics at the Science Institute, University of Iceland. Previously, I was a postdoc in the School of Mathematics at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (July 2022 - June 2023). I completed a B.Sc. degree in mathematics (2010) and postgraduate diploma in teaching studies (2011) from the University of Iceland, and an M.S. in mathematics (2022) and Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering (2022) from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Before starting my doctoral studies, I taught mathematics and worked in financial risk analysis and administration in Iceland.

I develop and analyze stochastic mathematical models of cancer evolution. My projects have involved studying the spatial dynamics of cancer initiation, the accumulation of neutral mutations during tumor progression, the role of phenotypic switching in cancer drug resistance, and parameter inference in the context of phenotypic switching.

Publications (*authors in alphabetical order)

1. *Gunnarsson, E.B., Leder, K., and Zhang, X. Limit theorems for the site frequency spectrum of neutral mutations in an exponentially growing population. Submitted. Preprint.

2. Gunnarsson, E.B. and Foo, J. Mathematical models of resistance evolution under continuous and pulsed anti-cancer therapies. Forthcoming book chapter.

3. Gunnarsson, E.B., Kim, S., Choi, B., Schimd, J.K., Kaura, K., Lenz, H-J, Mumenthaler, S., and Foo, J. Understanding patient-derived tumor organoid growth through an integrated imaging and mathematical modeling framework. PLoS Computational Biology 20(8) (2024) e1012256. Journal link.

4. Wu, C., Gunnarsson, E.B., Myklebust, E.M., Köhn-Luque, A., Enserink, J.M., Tadele, D.S., Frigessi, A., Foo, J. and Leder, K. Using birth-death processes to infer tumor subpopulation structure from live-cell imaging drug screening data. PLoS Computational Biology 20(3) (2024) e1011888. Journal link.

5. *Foo, J., Gunnarsson, E.B., Leder, K. and Sivakoff, J. Dynamics of advantageous mutant spread in spatial death-birth and birth-death Moran models. Communications on Applied Mathematics and Computation 6 (2024) 576–604. [1] Preprint [2] Journal link.

6. Gunnarsson, E.B., Foo. J, and Leder, K. Statistical inference of the rates of cell proliferation and phenotypic switching in cancer. Journal of Theoretical Biology 568 (2023) 111497. [1] Accepted manuscript (PDF) [2] Journal link.

7. *Foo, J., Gunnarsson E.B., Leder, K., and Storey, K. Spread of premalignant mutant clones and cancer initiation in multilayered tissue. Annals of Applied Probability 33(1) (2023) 299-343. [1] Accepted manuscript (PDF) [2] Journal link.

8. Benjaafar, S., Liu, H., Wu, S., and Gunnarsson, E.B. Dimensioning on-demand vehicle sharing systems. Management Science 68(2) (2022) 1218-1232. [1] Accepted manuscript (PDF) [2] Journal link.

9. Gunnarsson, E.B., Leder, K., and Foo, J. Exact site frequency spectra of neutrally evolving tumors: A transition between power laws reveals a signature of cell viability. Theoretical Population Biology 142 (2021) 67-90. [1] Accepted manuscript (PDF) [2] Journal link.

10. Gunnarsson, E.B., De, S., Leder, K., and Foo, J. Understanding the role of phenotypic switching in cancer drug resistance. Journal of Theoretical Biology 490 (2020) 110162. [1] Accepted manuscript (PDF) [2] Journal link.