My research interest lies in developing and analyzing mathematical models for biological systems that incorporate randomness. My main research includes:
Decision-making theory and collective behavior
First passage time problems in biology
For a complete list of publications, see my Google Scholar.
Collective decision-making under uncertainty
How do large collectives perceive environment and make efficient decisions without central coordination? Honey bees and ants solve this perception-action problem by integrating noisy information across individuals to make efficient group-level decisions in uncertain, dynamic environments.
To pursue these questions, we use Bayesian models of perception and action, and analyze the techniques in asymptotic analysis and dynamic programming.
Biological search and transport processes
How do cells overcome, or even utilize randomness to find their targets and transport molecules? How do cells explore through randomly moving "tentacles"? How do multiple cells explore environment efficiently?
To understand these fundamental mechanisms, we model and solve the first passage time problems.
Effect of intrinsic noise in biological systems
How does stochasticity due to small number of copies affect biological systems? Does it work only as noises?
We use system-size expansion to understand the effect of such intrinsic noise in various biological systems.
I am very fortunate to collaborate with many fantastic scientists. Some past and present collaborators:
Mathematical colloatorators
Paul Bressloff, Jun Allard, Yoichiro Mori, Joshua Plotkin, Sean Lawley, Krešimir Josić, Zachary Kilpatrick, Jeehyun Lee, Hee-Dae Kwon,
Experimental collaborators
Dae Seok Eom, Joshua Gold, Long Ding, Xaq Pitkow
I am looking forward to collaborating with you in the future! Please feel free to contact Hyunjoong Kim at any time for potential collaborative projects!