Achievement

Prof. Miller taught a new course Principles of Biological Modeling to introduce life science students to computational modeling of biological problems amenable to numerical analysis. Hands-on computer laboratory, Matlab and differential equations. Coupling of oscillators, homeostasis, feedback control; noise and stochastic methods; the Gillespie algorithm; random walks, diffusion and wave equations; curve fitting; Monte Carlo methods. General mathematical principles and computational methods are illustrated with biological systems including Predator-prey; Lotka-Volterra model; synchronized emergence of cicadae; Fisher equation; 2D models. Protein signaling and transcription pathways: cyclin oscillations; circadian rhythms;CaMKII bistability; dynamic stability of microtubules. Chemical/electrochemical oscillations and waves: action potential generation, and propagation; spiral waves. Circuits of coupled neurons, phase response curves, multi-stability. Genetic drift and allele variation.