Physics and mathematics are taking on an increasing fundamental role in our understanding of the biological world, spanning a multitude of phenomenological scales and with important medical applications. Branching patterns of blood vessel networks are inextricably linked to tissue, organ, and organismal metabolism, a relationship with the potential to predict cancerous tumor growth. Furthermore, variations in the shape of a single blood vessel can indicate the presence and severity of disease. And finally, models of species interactions that originated in ecology are proving invaluable for understanding how drugs interact, for better or worse, in combination immunotherapy and anti-inflammatory cancer treatments. In this talk I will highlight the roles that physics and mathematics play in these three systems, with special emphasis on the use of computational and numerical techniques to generate and analyze data, and build biological understanding.

Bio: Dr. Brummer obtained his B.S. degree in Physics from Oregon State University and a PhD in physics from the University of Arizona. He was a postdoc at UCLA in the department of biomathematics for four years, and is currently a postdoc in mathematical oncology at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope in Los Angeles. He will soon begin a faculty position as Assistant Professor of Physics at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina.