The Midwest Mathematical Biology Seminar will be a series of virtual talks on mathematical biology featuring speakers from the Midwest region and beyond. All areas of mathematical biology will be represented in the seminar series, and a goal for this seminar is to build connections and foster research collaborations.
Schedule (Fall 2025)
(All talks at 11am Eastern Time / 10am Central Time on Tuesdays)
Zoom link: https://illinois.zoom.us/j/84907159401?pwd=JboBtq30vntVuEpj8s3yYfAdwlb258.1
September 2: Tin Phan (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
September 9: Maliha Ahmed (MIT)
September 16: Peter Thomas (Case Western Reserve University)
September 23: Maxwell Kreider (Penn State)
September 30: Po-Chun Kuo (Purdue University)
October 7: Naghmeh Akhavan (University of Michigan)
October 14: Hwai-Ray Tung (University of Utah)
October 21: Folashade Agusto (University of Kansas)
October 28: Hyukpyo Hong (University of Wisconsin — Madison)
November 4: Ruby Kim (University of Michigan)
November 11: Swati Patel (Oregon State University)
November 18: Cody FitzGerald (Northwestern University)
November 25: Farshad Shirani (Emory University)
Title: Infinite-Dimensional Dynamics, Spatiotemporal Gamma Oscillations, and Balance of Excitation and Inhibition in Cortical Networks
Abstract: In this talk, I first present some analytical and computational results on the global dynamics of a mean field model of EEG activity in the neocortex. The model is a degenerate system of coupled ODEs and PDEs, with subtle solution irregularities. I show that the model possesses a global attracting set, which is non-compact for some biologically reasonable parameter values. This further implies that the model can present infinite-dimensional dynamics, a property that sounds crucial for the functionality of the neocortex. I also present computational results on generation and spatial propagation of gamma oscillations in the solutions of the model. The results identify challenges in interpreting and modelling temporal patterns of EEG recordings, originating mainly from the low spatial resolution of EEG electrodes. I then switch to a biologically more detailed but local mean-field model and present some results on how variations in key structural and physiological parameters of cortical networks may affect balance of excitation and inhibition in the networks. When a critical level of imbalance is created, the results predict a transition of cortical activity to a high amplitude slow oscillatory (1-4 Hz) regime. Such oscillatory activities are known to be strongly correlated with states of diminished consciousness.
December 2: Ted Loch-Temzelides (Rice University)
December 9: Binan Gu (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
December 16: Tyler Simmons (University of Minnesota)
Schedule (Spring 2026)
(All talks at 11am Eastern Time / 10am Central Time on Tuesdays)
Zoom link: https://illinois.zoom.us/j/84907159401?pwd=JboBtq30vntVuEpj8s3yYfAdwlb258.1
January 13: Maximillian Newman (University of Chicago)
January 20: Open
January 27: Open
February 3: Open
February 10: Open
February 17: Open
February 24: Open
March 3: Open
March 10: Open
March 17: Open
March 24: Open
March 31: Open
April 7: Open
April 14: Open
April 21: Open
April 28: Open
May 5: Open
May 12: Open
May 19: Open
May 26: Open
Schedule (Spring 2025)
(All talks at 4pm Eastern Time / 3pm Central Time on Fridays)
January 24: Bo Deng (University of Nebraska, Lincoln)
January 31: Mingchao Cai (Morgan State)
February 7: Claus Kadelka (Iowa State University)
February 14: Peter Hinow (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee)
February 21: Chengcheng Huang (University of Pittsburgh)
February 28: Veronica Ciocanel (Duke University)
SPECIAL TIME (2pm Eastern Time / 1pm Central Time)
March 7: Adrian Lam (Ohio State University)
March 14: Sabrina Streipert (University of Pittsburgh)
March 21: Merlin Pelz (University of Minnesota)
March 28: Meghan Ferrall-Fairbanks (University of Florida)
April 4: Zixuan Cang (North Carolina State University)
April 11: Jia Gou (University of California Riverside) Cancelled by the speaker.
April 18: Stephanie Dodson (Colby College)
April 25: Montie Avery (Boston University)
May 2: Bo Zhang ( Oklahoma State University)
Zoom Link: https://illinois.zoom.us/j/82616248519?pwd=CAR0v0aaIpTnIVwxJDa59wFvusobot.1.
May 9: Mario Gómez Flores (Florida State University)
Schedule (Fall 2024)
(All talks at 2pm Eastern Time / 1pm Central Time on Fridays)
September 6: Al Holder (Rose Hulman Institute of Technology)
September 13: Jichun Xie (Duke University)
September 20: Samantha Linn (University of Utah)
September 27: Guowei Wei (Michigan State)
October 4: Polly Yu (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
October 11: Laurel Ohm (University of Wisconsin–Madison)
October 18: Hongsong Feng (Michigan State)
October 25: Alexandria Volkening (Purdue University)
November 1: Hyunjoong Kim (University of Cincinnati)
November 8: Kelsey Gasior (University of Notre Dame)
November 15: Wai-Tong Louis Fan (Indiana University Bloomington)
November 22: Zhe Su (Michigan State)
December 6: Gregory Handy (University of Minnesota)
December 13: Erik Amezquita Morataya (University of Missouri)
This seminar series is co-organized by Ning Wei (Purdue University) and Daniel Cooney (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). You can sign up for email updates on the seminar series by joining the Midwest Mathematical Biology Google Group (https://groups.google.com/g/midwest-mathematical-biology-seminar/about).