With team members hailing from Jordan, Cambodia and Colombia, their collaboration showcased the power of global perspectives in solving complex problems regarding immune dynamics of COVID-19.
A team of undergraduate researchers, supervised by Associate Professor of mathematics Hwayeon Ryu, presented their collaborative work at the third Triangle Computational and Applied Mathematics Symposium (TriCAMS) on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for Oct. 26-27, 2024.
Elon students Pagnapech “Pech” Ngoun ’26, and Nicolas Alvarez ’27, with alumnus Ayesh Awad ’24, presented their mathematical modeling research in the poster session along with nearly 30 posters given by mostly graduate students and postdocs from regional research institutions in the Research Triangle. The team’s work focused on developing mathematical models that simulate the immune system’s response to the COVID-19 virus, providing insights into disease progression and potential treatment strategies. This ongoing research aims to further the understanding of how mathematical models can be used to identify key signaling pathways responsible for severe symptoms observed in some COVID-19 patients. Their work has been supported by a National Science Foundation-funded project on COVID-19 mathematical modeling.
During the presentation, they interacted with many researchers and distinguished leaders in the field of applied mathematics or mathematical biology, particularly Grant Dahlstrom Distinguished Professor of Mathematics Greg M. Forest at UNC-Chapel Hill, whose group has been investigating the immune dynamics of infectious disease such as SARS-CoV-2 (also known as COVID-19). Due to the common interests on research work and topic(s), Ryu’s team hopes to collaborate on a COVID-19 related project and, thus, develop a research community with Forest’s group in the future.
The aim of the annual TriCAMS is to provide an opportunity for the Research Triangle community to discover one another, and to integrate, network, and collaborate toward common goals and aspirations rooted in applied and computational mathematics. The annual event is held alternatively between the four institutions, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, NCSU and NC Central University.