Maria-Veronica Ciocanel, Assistant Professor

My research is in mathematical biology, in particular related to questions about protein transport in cells. Understanding how proteins move and organize inside cells is a fundamental question in cell biology, with implications to our knowledge of healthy cell function and proper organism development. I use mathematical modeling, analysis, and simulation to address questions about molecular-motor driven transport and protein filament organization. I use tools drawing from dynamical systems and partial differential equations, stochastic processes, and data analysis. I collaborate with experimental researchers on problems related to messenger RNA localization in oocytes, neurofilament transport in axons, actin-myosin protein interactions, and organization of filaments in neuronal dendrites. 

Up-to-date information about my research can be found here: https://services.math.duke.edu/~ciocanel/.

Contact Info:

Office Location:	120 Science Drive Physics 117, Box 90320, Durham, NC 27708
Office Phone:	(919) 660-2800
Email Address:
Web Page:	https://services.math.duke.edu/~ciocanel/

Office Hours:

Spring 2022: Mon 5-6:15pm (in-person), Fri 9-10:30am (online).

Education:

Ph.D.	Brown University	2017
M.S.	Brown University	2013
B.S.	Duke University	2012

Keywords:

Computational methods • Data analysis • Developmental biology--Mathematical models • Dynamical systems in biology • Intracellular Transport • Mathematical biology in general • Muser Mentor • Stochastic processes--Mathematical models

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Ciocanel, M-V, Applications of PDEs and Stochastic Modeling to Protein Transport in Cell Biology, Notices of the American Mathematical Society (December, 2022), American Mathematical Society [doi]  [abs]
2. Ciocanel, M-V; Nardini, J, Online and In-Person Interviewing for Tenure-Track Positions, Notices of the American Mathematical Society (August, 2022) [doi]  [abs]
3. Benson, J; Bessonov, M; Burke, K; Cassani, S; Ciocanel, M-V; Cooney, DB; Volkening, A, How do classroom-turnover times depend on lecture-hall size? (June, 2022)
4. Ciocanel, M-V; Chandrasekaran, A; Mager, C; Ni, Q; Papoian, GA; Dawes, A, Simulated actin reorganization mediated by motor proteins., Plos Computational Biology, vol. 18 no. 4 (April, 2022), pp. e1010026 [doi]  [abs]
5. Gandhi, P; Ciocanel, M-V; Niklas, K; Dawes, AT, Identification of approximate symmetries in biological development, Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences, vol. 379 no. 2213 (December, 2021), The Royal Society [doi]  [abs]

Recent Grant Support

• Pairing modeling and experiment to understand microtubule behavior in healthy and injured neurons, Pennsylvania State University, 2022/06-2027/04.      
• RTG: Training Tomorrow's Workforce in Analysis and Applications, National Science Foundation, 2021/07-2026/06.