The second annual SCMB Modeling Accelerator was a six-week program for early undergraduates that ran from June 13th to July 22th, 2022.

This year, we invited 13 early undergraduates in quantitative fields from across the Southeast to learn the principles of theoretical and computational math-bio modeling. After 3 weeks of short-form investigations and studio-style instruction, the participants proposed their own complex bio-systems modeling projects that would be the focus of their efforts for the remainder of the program. The projects proposed this year spanned various biological scales from immune signaling and theoretical oncology to hyperparasitism and amphibian ecology. Along with each of these projects was a central question that transcended the specific biological context.

How do parasites with multi-host lifecycles calibrate their deleterious effects in order to most effectively climb the food chain via predation? How do parasites-of-parasites repeatedly and robustly emerge despite occupying a narrow, unstable niche? How strong must a long-range immune signal be in order to quash a spreading short-range infection? How could a “hypertumor” of cells with a selfish phenotype be used to collapse a growing tumor? See their answers to these questions in the final presentations below.

Hypertumors: a solution to Peto’s paradox
Team #1 - Cameron Heard, Arnav Hiray, and Sarah Hui (GT)

Interferons: a mathematical approach to innate immunity
Team #2 - Saúl Chavez, Thomas Cutro, Isabella Kulstad (Tulane)

Hyperparasites: Nature's equilibrators
Team #3 - Alex Mark, Beau Martin, Aditya Natham, Amy Sims (GSU)

Predator-prey in the presence of a multi-species parasite
Team #4 - Daniel Dale (Clemson) and Andalib Samandari (GSU),
with Andrew Callahan (Clemson)

If you are faculty interested in sponsoring a team at your institution for the Summer 2023 modeling accelerator, please reach out to scmb@gatech.edu.