In this talk, I will discuss my journey as a  first-generation college student majoring in mathematics in search of opportunity. Along the way I found mentors who supported and guided me through graduate studies onto becoming a professor in mathematics. As a result, I have become “an agent of change”  in both increasing the numbers of underrepresented groups attaining STEM degrees and making progress in important scientific problems by applying the toolbox I have built as a mathematician. This path has allowed me the opportunity to join teams of experts in different disciplines to tackle tough problems. In this talk I will discuss one such problem: applying optimal control techniques to improve the treatment of the eye disease retinitis pigmentosa.

Abstract: I have always been fascinated by the relationship between pattern, prediction, order and disorder. Mathematics is the perfect language to describe the evolution of patterns, and music is a great way to listen to them. My first career as a musician led to a new career in mathematics, as I pursued patterns and prediction through the study of dynamical systems and ergodic theory. In more recent years, I have discovered that mathematical descriptions of physical processes can be used to address problems in medicine, such as understanding how cancer evolves, or developing treatment strategies. In this talk I will describe my own journey from musician to mathematician to modeler, highlighting this path with mathematical examples.