NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology Welcomes New Scientific Leaders to the Institute

The NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB) is excited to announce that Lisa Fauci (Pendergraft Nola Lee Haynes Professor, Mathematics, Tulane University) and Alan Hastings (Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Environmental Science & Policy, University of California, Davis) have joined the Institute as Scientific Leaders. 

NITMB Scientific Leaders act as hands-on guides who directly shape the science supported by the Institute. Working alongside the Directors, their leadership spans a wide range of activities, including driving the selection of Fellows and Affiliate Members, and serving on workshop, outreach, and search committees. NITMB is thrilled to welcome Lisa Fauci and Alan Hastings to the Institute’s leadership and looks forward to the valuable contributions they will make in shaping the future of NITMB-supported science. 

Lisa Fauci is the Pendergraft Nola Lee Haynes Professor of Mathematics at Tulane University. Fauci is a past president of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), founding director of Tulane’s Center for Computational Science, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2023. She is a fellow of SIAM, the American Physical Society, the American Mathematical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Association for Women in Mathematics.  

As an applied mathematician, the emphasis of Lisa Fauci’s research has been to use modeling and simulation to study the basic biophysics of organismal locomotion and reproductive mechanics. Fauci is involved in collaborations with experimentalists on investigations of microbial motility, as well as studying the neuromechanics and fluid dynamics of fish swimming, where inertial effects in the flow cannot be ignored.  

“The projects live at the interface of mathematical and biological sciences,” shared Fauci. “As such, I am thrilled to work with the leadership group of NITMB towards the goal of integrating teams of experimentalists and mathematicians to transform biological research and to inspire advances in mathematics.” 

Alan Hastings is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California, Davis and External Faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. At UC Davis, he served as Chair of the Department of Environmental Science and Policy from 1992 to 1998. He was previously the President of the Society for Mathematical Biology, Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Mathematical Biology, Co-Editor of the Encyclopedia of Theoretical Ecology, and is the founding Editor in Chief of the journal Theoretical Ecology. Dr. Hastings received the Robert H. MacArthur award from the Ecological Society of America, and is a Fellow of SIAM, the Ecological Society of America, the Society of Mathematical Biology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2015. 

Over the course of his career, Alan Hastings has published over 400 papers and three books. His research, mostly supported by the National Science Foundation, has primarily focused on ecology, with an emphasis on understanding the dynamics of populations. His current research interests include the study of transients in ecological dynamics, using ideas from statistical physics to study spatial population dynamics, and using inverse approaches to understand the question of coexistence in ecology.  

“A positive future for mathematical biology lies in building on previous successes and looking for commonalities in mathematical approaches to different areas of biology,” said Hastings. “I am excited about working with the next generation of interdisciplinary scientists and establishing new research directions while making progress with earlier ones.” 

About NITMB 

The National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB) aims to integrate the disciplines of mathematics and biology to transform the practice of biological research and to inspire new mathematical discoveries. Through supporting research, training, scientific workshops, and programming, the NITMB carries out its mission: to create a nationwide collaborative research community that will generate new mathematical results and uncover the “rules of life” through theories, data-informed mathematical models, and computational and statistical tools. NITMB is funded by the National Science Foundation (DMS-2235451) and Simons Foundation (MP-TMPS-00005320) and is supported by a partnership between Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.