Welcome to My Webpage
Exploring the Wonders of Life/Universe
I am currently an Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of South Florida St. Petersburg
A Little About Me
Multidisciplinary Researcher
I’m an applied mathematician dedicating my life to exploring and researching the processes and scientific mechanisms underlying the world we live in. My research areas include mathematical modeling, dynamical systems, nonlinear networks, and optimal control. A significant focus of my work is on qualitative and quantitative studies of the nonlinear dynamics of coupled networks. The objective is to understand relations between the structure and dynamics of networks and apply this knowledge to gain insights into how complex biosystems respond to fast environmental changes, ecological stresses, and other effects. Applications of my research include epidemiology, ecology, neurosciences, environmental sustainability, and, recently, molecular dynamics. I have received several awards and grants for my research, with projects and publications that you can learn more about below.
My Research
From Theory to Reality
Theory and Applications of Nonlinear Networks
The main goal of Theory of Nonlinear Coupled Networks is to understand mathematical properties of networks and gain insights that may be useful in applied fields. What motivates the developing of networks abstract theory is the fact that networks arise naturally in many diverse fields and there are numerous examples showing that systems operate in a network structure. I have been advancing this area of research with collaborators from Portugal and USA.
Computational Molecular Dynamics
Building upon work done by international researchers, I recently teamed up with a group at Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM), Spain, to derive innovative reversible multiple time-scale splitting multi-stage integrators. A major advantage of this development is to design more effective
algorithms for enhancing the efficiency and accessible time scales of molecular dynamics simulations without affecting a chosen statistical ensemble sampling performance.
Mathematical Ecology & Environmental Sustainability
In an effort to gain a better understanding of the impact of multiple and interacting stresses (disturbances) on the viability of species in ecosystems I develop quantitative and qualitative modelling approaches to investigate the interactions among the external pressure and their effects on the ecosystem. I also propose and investigate strategies to control their adverse impact and promote sustainability of the ecosystem. I test the theoretical outcomes on real data provided by collaborators-practitioners. This is a collaborative research line involving efforts of multiple national and international researchers and led to several publications and other products such multiple grants, undergraduate research projects, research events and talks at national and international conferences.
Mathematical Modeling of
Neural Control of Breathing
Collaboratively with researchers from New Zealand and USA, I am studying the mechanisms that underlie neural control of breathing, which are essential for many life activities but are not well understood. We are carrying-on the study in
a novel Boolean framework. The framework enables easy scaling of neural networks from animals to humans and does not depend on careful choice of parameters. This is a unique advantage of our framework over models that rely on differential equations, allowing us to integrate experiments in animals at the neural level with experiments in humans at the system level, and will lead to better
treatment of humans with cardio-respiratory diseases.
Bridging Natural Illumination & Human Health/Development
This is a "dream project." I would like to collaboratively engage in projects related to this theme.
I have been always intrigued by the role of daylight in the human physiology and health. My curiosity is related to what are the impacts of natural light on physiology, behavior and health of humans? Is natural light integrated to human perception only via visual input or are other pathways? Can we uncover/understand the processes behind those effects/pathways? Can we formulate mathematical model to help shed light on this matter?
If you find these questions interesting and have ideas that we can explore together, I would love to hear about them.
