Research
The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverb 9:10)
Research Interests
My research interests include mathematical biology, optimal control, computational
biology, mathematical modeling, ordinary and partial differential equations, difference
equations, agent/individual-based models, and hybrid systems, deep learning, with
applications to
- Population Dynamics
- Disease Modeling and Control
- Lyme Disease: Ticks and Hosts PDF;
- Rabies in Raccoons: Discrete Model PDF;
- Antibiotic-resistant Bacteria: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the hospitals PDF and communities;
- Malaria Control using sterile insect technique (SIT), insecticide-treated net (ITNs) and incompatible insect technique (IIT); Research Outreach Media report.
- West-Nile Virus (optimal impulse control);
- General Population: PDF
- Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering Special Issue I: Mathematical modeling and analysis of social and ecological determinants for the dynamics of infectious diseases and public health policies, Link
- Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering Special Issue II: Machine Learning, Mathematical and Statistical Modeling for Systems Biology, Link
- Natural Resource Management
- Systems Biology is the computational and mathematical analysis and modeling of complex biological
systems. It is a biology-based interdisciplinary field of study that focuses on complex
interactions within biological systems, using a holistic approach to biological research.
- Modulation of Macrophage Inflammatory Signaling by Intracellular Cryptococcus neoformans PDF;
- The Innate Immune Response to SARS-COV-2 in the Alveolar Epithelium PDF;
- Integrated Mathematical Oncology;
- Optimal Cancer Treatment.
- One Health: refers to an advanced concept of preventing emerging infectious diseases through interdisciplinary,
interdepartmental, and interregional collaboration, emphasizing the interconnection
between humans, animals, and ecosystems, thereby safeguarding human health, animal
health, and environmental health.
Canadian Center for Disease Modeling (CCDM)
Canadian Emerging Infectious Diseases Modelling Initiative. - Deep Learning: applied to infectious diseases, healthcare realted, and images.
- Using Modeling to Teach Differential Equations PDF, PDF2
- Women in STEM: PDF
- Quantum Biology: NSF's 10 Big Ideas
Mathematical biology is a growing branch of applied mathematics as the interest of modeling complex biological systems increases. Optimal control theory is a branch of mathematics developed to find optimal ways to control a dynamic system. Generally, the optimal control problem consists of an objective functional, a dynamic system and the control(s). The controls enter the dynamics in a variety of ways as coefficients, boundary terms or sources.
My research focuses on understanding the spatial and temporal patterns that arise in dynamic biological systems and when possible, finding the best way to control the system.
Science Feb. 6th, 2004 --- Devoted to Mathematics in Biology 
In a special collection of articles published beginning 6 February 2004, Science Magazine and its online companion sites teamed up to explore one of the hottest interdisciplinary collaborations in science today: the interface between mathematics and biology. In Science, News, Viewpoint, and Review articles covered how mathematics and computation are informing biology on a wide variety of fronts, the need for incorporating quantitative approaches into bioscience curricula, and some of the uses -- and abuses -- of mathematical models for biological systems.
Systems Biology: A New Biology for the 21st Century, 2009. National Research Council.
recommends that a "New Biology" approach--one that depends on greater integration
within biology, and closer collaboration with physical, computational, and earth scientists,
mathematicians and engineers--be used to find solutions to four key societal needs:
sustainable food production, ecosystem restoration, optimized biofuel production,
and improvement in human health. The approach calls for a coordinated effort to leverage
resources across the federal, private, and academic sectors to help meet challenges
and improve the return on life science research in general.
Research Work
- XL Cai, L Cai, W Ding, Modeling the transmission dynamics of a two-strain dengue disease with infection age, International Journal of Biomathematics, 2024. doi: 10.1142/S1793524524500049
- Hong Qin; Jude Kong; Wandi Ding; Ramneek Ahluwalia; Christo El Morr; Zeynep Engin; Jake Okechukwu Effoduh; Rebecca Hwa; Serena Jingchuan Guo; Laleh Seyyed-Kalantari; Sylvia Kiwuwa Muyingo; Candace Makeda Moore; Ravi Parikh; Reva Schwartz; Dongxiao Zhu; Xiaoqian Wang; Yiye Zhang. Towards Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence for Equitable Global Health, submitted, 2023. arXiv:2309.05088
- D. Wang, W. Ding and X. Yang. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Classification with Three Types of Correlations Based on ABIDE I Data, Accepted by Mathematical Foundations of Computing, 2023. PDF
- F. Agusto, D. Bond, A. Cohen, W. Ding, R. Leander and A. Royer. Optimal Impulse Control
of West-Nile Virus, accepted by AIMS Mathematics, 7(10): 19597–19628, 2022. Doi: 10.3934/math.20221075. PDF
- Liming Cai, Lanjing Bao, Logan Rose, Jeffery Summers & Wandi Ding (2022) Malaria modeling
and optimal control using sterile insect technique and insecticide-treated net, Applicable Analysis, 101:5, 1715-1734, DOI: 10.1080/00036811.2021.1999419 PDF
Wandi Ding. Malaria Modelling, an optimal control problem. Research Outreach, May 17, 2022. - Guest Editors: Ding, Wandi; Kang, Yun; Mubayi, Anuj. Special Issue: Mathematical modeling and analysis of social and ecological determinants for the dynamics of infectious diseases and public health policies. Math. Biosci. Eng.18 (2021), no. 6, 8535–8537. PDF
- Leander RN, Wu Y, Ding W, Nelson DE, Sinkala Z.
A model of the innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in the alveolar epithelium. R. Soc. Open Sci. 8: 210090, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210090 PDF - QUBES (Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis): Agent/Individual-Based Modeling Faculty Mentoring Network 2019.
- Wandi Ding, Ryan Florida, Jeffery Summers, Puran Nepal and Ben Burton.
Experience and Lessons Learned from Using SIMIODE Modeling Scenarios, PRIMUS, 29:6, 571-583, 2019. PDF - Guest Editor: Rachel Leander, Wandi Ding and Rene Salinas.
Special Issue Dedicated to Suzanne Lenhart, Journal of Natural Resource Modeling, 31:4, 2018. - Wandi Ding and Glenn Webb.
Optimal Control Applied to Community-acquired Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus in Hospitals, Journal of Biological Dynamics, 11:sup1, 65-78, 2017. PDF - James B. Hayes, Linda M. Sircy, Lauren E. Heusinkveld, Wandi Ding, Rachel N. Leander,
Erin E. McClelland and David E. Nelson.
Modulation of macrophage in ammatory NF-kB signaling by intracellular Cryptococcus neofor- mans, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 291:30, 15614-15627, 2016. PDF - Orou G. Gaoue, Jiang Jiang, Wandi Ding, Folashade B. Agusto and Suzanne Lenhart.
Optimal harvesting strategies for timber and non-timber forest products in tropical ecosystems, Theoretical Ecology, 9:3, 287-297, 2016. PDF - Huili Ma, Hui Feng and Wandi Ding.
Global asymptotic behavior of positive solutions for exponential form difference equations with three parameters, Journal of Applied Analysis and Computation, 6:3, 600-606, 2016. PDF - Huili Ma, Hui Feng, Jiaofeng Wang and Wandi Ding.
Boundedness and asymptotic behavior of positive solutions for difference equations of exponential form, Journal of Nonlinear Science and Applications, 8:5, 893-899, 2015.
- Wandi Ding.
Wandi Ding (2015), "1-070-T-FisheryHarvest," https://www.simiode.org/resources/1319. Teacher Version Modeling Scenario PDF and Student Version PDF. - Wandi Ding, Suzanne Lenhart and Horst Behncke.
Discrete Time Optimal Harvesting of Fish Populations with Age Structure, Letters in Biomathematics, 1:2, 193-207, 2014. - Wandi Ding, Raymond C. Hendon, Brandon Cathey, Evan Lancaster and Robert Germick.
Discrete Time Optimal Control Applied to Pest Control Problems, Involve, a Journal of Mathematics 7-4 (2014), 479--489. - Wandi Ding, Volodymyr Hrynkiv and Xiaoyu Mu.
Optimal Control Applied to Native-Invasive Species Competition via a PDE Model, Electronic Journal of Differential Equations, Vol. 2012, 237:1-18, 2012. - Wandi Ding and Suzanne Lenhart.
An Introduction to Optimal Control for Discrete Models with an Application to Disease Modeling. Modeling Paradigms and Analysis of Disease Transmission Models, 109-119, DIMACS Ser. Discrete Math. Theoret. Comput. Sci., 75, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 2010. - W. Ding, Suzanne Lenhart, Heather Finotti, Yuan Lou and Yuquan Ye.
Optimal Control of the Growth Coefficient on a Steady State Population Model. Nonlinear Anal. Real World Appl. 11, 688-704, 2010. - Wandi Ding and Suzanne Lenhart.
Optimal Harvesting of a Spatially Explicit Fishery Model. Natural Resource Modeling, 22:2, 173-211, 2009.
Poster at the 2007 World Conference on Natural Resource Modeling. - Wandi Ding, Louis Gross, Keith Langston, Suzanne Lenhart and Leslie A. Real.
Rabies in Raccoons: Optimal Control for a Discrete Time Model on a Spatial Grid. Journal of Biological Dynamics, 1:4, 379-393, 2007. - Wandi Ding.
Optimal Control on Hybrid ODE Systems with Application to a Tick Disease Model. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering , 4:4, 633-659, 2007. - Grid Computing Project for Ecological Modeling and Spatial Control, 2006-07 (post-doctoral work)
- GitHub
Selected Presentations:
- Special Session on "Advances in Modeling Mosquito-borne Disease Dynamics and Control Methods" at the 2023 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Boston, MA, January 4-7, 2023.
- Virginia Tech University Math Biology seminar: Oct. 19, 2022. Virtual.
https://intranet.math.vt.edu/mathbio/seminar.html - Special Session on “Recent Advances in Mathematical Biology” at the AMS Sectional Meeting at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in Chattanooga, TN.
October 15-16, 2022.
- UCR Interdisciplinary Center for Quantitative Modeling in Biology, March 8, 2022. Virtual.
- Analysis and Applied Mathematics seminar talk at Kennesaw State Universtiy, November 4, 2021. Virtual.
- Xinyang Normal University, China: External Experts Colloquium, School of Mathematics and Statistics, October 30, 2021. Virtual.
- Biomathematics seminar talk at Texas Tech University. Oct. 26, 2021. Virtual.
- Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB) Annual Conference, Minisymposium: From Primate to Vectors to Humans: Understanding the underlying mechanisms of disease transmission and control. June 13-17, 2021. Virtual.
- Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM) meeting, AMS Special Session on Advances in Mathematical Biology, Jan 6-9, 2021, Virtual.
- AMS Fall Southeastern Virtual Sectional Meeting, Oct. 10-11, 2020. Special Session on Modern Applied Analysis.
- NIMBioS Eleventh Undergraduate Research Conferences at the Interface of Biology and Mathematics, Knoxville, TN, November 16-17, 2019. Flyer
- Integrated Mathematical Oncology (IMO) Workshop 9: Tumor Board Evolution, Tampa, Moffitt Caner Center, FL, November 3-8, 2019.
- University of Alabama - Huntsville Department of Mathematical Sciences Colloquium, Nov. 1, 2019.
- Seventh International Conference on Mathematical Modeling and Analysis of Populations in Biological Systems (ICMA VII), Arizona State University, October 12-14, 2019.
- The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences Workshop on Human-Environment Systems: Feedback and Management, Toronto, Canada, March 5-9, 2018. Flyer
- AMS Speical Session on Modeling in Differential Equations - High School, Two-year College, Four-Year Institution, Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM), San Diego CA, January 10-13, 2018.
- International Conferences on Mathematical Modelling and Analysis of Populations in Biological Systems (ICMA VI), University of Arizona, in Tucson, Arizona, October 20-22, 2017.
- Simon A. Levin Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center, Arizona State University, October 19, 2017.
- The 37th Southeastern-Atlantic Regional Conference on Differential Equations (SEARCDE 2017), Kennesaw State University, October 7-8, 2017. (Chair of the Parallel Session Sunday 1:30-2:50pm )
- Vanderbilt University, Department of Mathematics, PDE seminar, September 8, 2017.
- Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) workshop on Women in Control: New Trends in Infinite Dimensions, Banff, Canada, July 16-21, 2017. Link for Video and PPT
- International Conference on Reaction-Diffusion Equations and Their Applications to the Life, Social and Physical Sciences, Beijing, China, May 26-29, 2016.
- CBAS Preview Day, 2015. PDF
- Ocean University of China (OUC), School of Mathematics Colloquium, June 9, 2015.
- Qingdao University (QD), China, School of Mathematics Colloquium, June 4, 2015.
- Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Conference on the Life Sciences Mini-Symposium, Mathematical Modeling and Control of Ecological and Epidemiological Problems, Charlotte, NC, August 4-7, 2014.
- University of Tennessee - Chattanooga (UTC), Department of Mathematics Colloquium, June 9, 2014.
- American Mathematical Society (AMS) Southerneastern Spring Sectional Meeting, Special Session on Diversity in Modeling and Optimal Control: A Celebration of Suzanne Lenhart's 60th Birthday, Knoxville, TN, March 21-23, 2014.
- Mathematical Biosciences Institute (MBI) workshop 2 on Rapid Evolution and Sustainability, Optimal control of models to sustain populations, Columbus, OH, October 7-11, 2013.
- American Mathematical Society (AMS) Special session on Mathematical Issues in Ecological and Epidemiological Modeling at the South East Section of the meeting, Louisville, KY, October 5-6, 2013.
- American Mathematical Society (AMS) Special Session at the Joint Mathematics Meetings (JMM): Control of Biological and Physical Systems, Boston, MA, Jan. 2012.
- The Third International Conference on Mathematical Modeling and Analysis of Populations in Biological Systems (ICMA III), San Antonio, TX, Oct. 2011.
- 2010 Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Conference on the Life Sciences, Mini-symposium on Optimal Control Applied to Biological Systems, Pittsburgh, PA, July, 2010.
- The Second International Conference on Mathematical Modeling and Analysis of Populations in Biological Systems (ICMA II), Huntsville, AL, October, 2009.
- 2009 Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Conference on Control and Its Applications, Denver, CO, July, 2009.
- American Mathematical Society (AMS) regional conference, Huntsville, AL, October, 2008.
- Special Session on Applied Partial Differential Equations at American Mathematical Society (AMS) Southeastern meeting, Murfreesboro, TN, November, 3-4, 2007.
NSF ADVANCE IT-Catalyst Grant Presentations
- Middle Tennessee State University ADVANCE: Spotlight on Changing the Institutional Culture to Improve the Recruitment, Retention, and Advance of Women STEM Faculty, MTSU Scholars Week, March 30, 2017.
- Campus Climate Survey and Focus Group Results Presentation, November, Murfreesboro, TN, 2015.
- ADVANCEing STEM Careers for Women at MTSU, 35th Annual Conference, Women in Higher Education in Tennessee, October 23, Murfreesboro, TN, 2015.
Selected Workshops/Faculty Development
- MTSU LT&ITC Weekly Writing Groups, Fall 2022.
- Dale Carnegie Immersion Course, MTSU, August 10-12, 2022
- JuliaCon: JuliaCon is the conference dedicated to the Julia programming language. July 27-29, 2022.
- Association for Women in Mathematics (AWIS) Chapter Leader Summit, June 4, 2022.
- Online auditing CSCI 4850: Neural Nets at MTSU, Spring 2022.
- UCI Center for Complex Biological Systems: Short Course in SystemsBiology - Foundations - Prep Week, May-June, 2022. Virtual.
- NSF Convergence Accelerator EXPO 2022. July 27-28, 2022.
- MATLAB EXPO 2022, May 17-18, 2022. Virtual. Using Matlab with Python Certificate
- SMB Math-Epidemiology/Math-Immunology Subgroups Mid-Year Mini Virtual Conference, theme: Epidemiology meets Immunology and Vice Versa - Linking Math Epidemiology to
Math Immunology, Feb. 27-28, 2022.
- 2022 Shanks Workshop on Mathematical Aspects of Fluid Dynamics, February 19-20, 2022
- SIMIODE EXPO Conference, February 10-13, 2022. Virtual.
- Online auditing CSCI 7850: Deep Learning, at MTSU, Fall 2021.
- Dynamics Day 2022, Georgia Tech University. January 7-8, 2022. Virtual.
- Winter Workshop on Competition Dynamics in Biology, Ohio State University, December 15-17, 2021. Virtual.
- 17th annual Shenandoah Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics (SUMS) Conference at James Madison University. December 4, 2021. Virtual.
- Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) Blackwell Tapia Conference 2021, Nov. 19-20, 2021. Virtual.
- E-BEER: International Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research, November 12-14, 2021. Virtual.
- Banff International Workshop: Mathematics of the Cell: Integrating Signaling, Transport and Mechanics (21w5154), Oct. 17-22, 2021. Virtual.
- 5th Workshop on Virus Dynamics, October 4-6, 2021, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Washington State University. Virtual.
- LinkedIn Learning: Mathematica 11 Essential Training, finished September 28, 2021
- 2021 Mathematics-Tianyuan China-Canada Symposium on Modelling, Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, September 15-19, 2021. Virtual.
- Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Conference, Minisymposium: From Primate to Vectors to Humans: Understanding the underlying mechanisms of disease transmission and control. June 13-17, 2021. Virtual.
- 2021 Virtual Joint Mathematics Meetings, AMS Special Session on Advances in Mathematical Biology, II, January 6-9, 2021.
- QUBES (Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis):Agent/Individual-Based Modeling Faculty Mentoring Network 2019.
- Integrated Mathematical Oncology (IMO) Workshop 9: Tumor Board Evolution, Tampa, Moffitt Cancer Center, FL, November 3-8, 2019.
- The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences Workshop on Human-Environment Systems: Feedback and Management, Toronto, Canada, March 5-9, 2018.
- Grant Writing Enhancement Program at MTSU 2017.
- Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) workshop on Women in Control: New Trends in Infinite Dimensions, Banff, Canada, July 16-21, 2017.
- IMA Annual Program Year Workshop: Biological Systems and Networks, November 16-20, Minneapolis MN, 2015.
- MAA-PREP Workshop: Systemic Initiative for Modeling Investigation and Opportunities with Differential Equations (SIMIODE), July 19-25, Helena, MT, 2015.
- Invited Participant: Investigative Workshop on Interface Disease Models, National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), Knoxville, TN, March 11-13, 2014.
- Invited Speaker: Mathematical Biosciences Institute (MBI) workshop 2 on Rapid Evolution and Sustainability , Optimal control of models to sustain populations, Columbus, OH, October 7-11, 2013.
- Invited Participant: “Mid-Career Faculty Development” Faculty Learning Community, MTSU 2013-14.
- The Importance of Mentoring and Work-Life Satisfaction Workshop, Association of Women in Science (AWIS), MTSU, March 18-20, 2013.
- Global South Summit, Nashville, TN, November 13-14, 2012
- XSEDE (Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment) Nashville Regional Workshop, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, May 7-8, 2012
- 5th Hands-on Workshop on Interrogating Cancer Resistance to Targeted Therapeutics with Systems Biology, The Center for Cancer Systems Biology at Vanderbilt University (CCSB@V), Nashville, TN, August 22-24, 2011
- Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (NSF - CBMS ) Lecture Series on Mathematical Epidemiology with Applications, Johnson City, TN, July 25-29, 2011.
- Numbers Count Workshop --- NIMBioS, BioQuest and HHMI, 2009
- 2007 Workshop for Young Researchers in Mathematical Biology (WYRMB)
- Computational Science Workshop for Natural Resource Managers 2007
- Association of Women in Mathematics (AWM) Workshop for Women Graduate Students and Recent PhDs, New Orleans, LA, January, 2007.
- Computational Science Workshop for Natural Resource Managers 2006
- Industrial Mathematical & Statistical Modeling (IMSM) Workshop @ NC State Univ. 2004
Natalie Almond, Wandi Ding, Xiaochuan Li, Xingtao Liu, Steven Rusnica, Ismael Velzquez-Ramrez, Emily Lada, Fazafumi Ito, Michael Horton, Mellisa Choi.
"Mobile Sensing of Aerosolized Chemical and Biological Agents." CRSC Technical Report, CRSC-TR04-41, 15-26, December, 2004. - Joint Institute for Computational Science (JICS) workshop on Parallel Programming with MPI, University of Tennessee, May 2004.
- Mathematical Biological Complexity Short Course, University of Tennessee, July 2003.
Resources
