Margherita Maria Ferrari and Daniel Cruz are hosting a mini-symposium entitled "Algebra, Combinatorics, and Topology in Modern Biology" which will (virtually) run at the Society of Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting this year; see https://www.smb2021.org/ for more details on the meeting. Their mini-symposium will span two sessions on June 17 and include talks by Margherita and Hector Banos. Please see the information below for more details.

Title:  Algebra, Combinatorics, and Topology in Modern Biology

Abstract:  Over the last few years, research at the interface of mathematics and biology has proven to be a powerful catalyst for advancing each of the individual fields by yielding new tools, discoveries, and open questions. In particular, techniques from algebra, combinatorics, topology, and related areas have complemented more mainstream approaches in mathematical biology while becoming natural tools for understanding biological structures and interactions. This mini-symposium will focus on recent developments and open problems involving the application of algebra, combinatorics, and/or topology to topics in biology. These topics include RNA branching, signaling networks, COVID-19 detection, and phylogenetics, among others. Our intention is not only to facilitate discussion and collaboration but also to promote inclusivity within the associated research communities. As such, we have invited a diverse group of junior and senior speakers with complementary expertise which includes a significant number of women mathematicians.

Session Information (June 17, 2021):  

http://schedule.smb2021.org/MFBM/MFBM-MS19.html

Session 1 (MS19), starting at 9:30 AM Pacific Time

1.) Margherita Maria Ferrari (USF), Formal Grammar Modeling Three-Stranded DNA:RNA Braids
2.) Svetlana Poznanovic (Clemson), Using Polytopes to Improve RNA Branching Predictions
3.) Chad Giusti (U Delaware), Comparing Topological Feature Coding Across Neural Populations
4.) Abdulmelik Mohammed (USF), Topological Eulerian Circuits for the Design of DNA Nanostructures

Session 2 (MS20), starting at 11:30 AM Pacific Time

http://schedule.smb2021.org/MFBM/MFBM-MS20.html

5.) Mustafa Hajij (Santa Clara), TDA-Net: Fusion of Persistent Homology and Deep Learning Features for COVID-19 Detection in Chest X-Ray Images
6.) Hector Baños (Dalhousie), Identifiability of Species Network Topologies from Genomic Sequences
7.) Nida Obatake (TAMU), Mixed Volume of Chemical Reaction Networks
8.) Raina Robeva (Randolph-Macon), Algebraic Biology in the Curriculum