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Olivia Chu (Bryn Mawr College), Ryan Murphy (Adelaide University), Ananth Srinivas (LSU Health New Orleans), and Kira Pugh (Uppsala University). We welcome Kira to the newsletter team and thank outgoing editor Sara Hamis for her contributions!
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News - updates from:
- People - Interview with Parmvir Bahia, CEO of Scientists Inc and Artha Science Media
- Editorial - A message from the Annual Meeting organizers
- Featured Figure - Khola Jamshad, University of Michigan
To read the subsections of this issue, click the links at the above items.
Contributing content
Issues of the newsletter are released four times per year in Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. The newsletter serves the SMB community with news and updates, so please share it with your colleagues and contribute content to future issues.
We welcome submissions to expand the content of the newsletter. The next issue will be released in Autumn, so if you would like to contribute, please send an email to the editors by the start of September 2026 to discuss how your content can be included. This could include summaries of relevant conferences that you have attended, suggestions for interviews, professional development opportunities etc. Please note that job advertisements should be sent to the Member Forum rather than to the newsletter.
If you have any suggestions on how to improve the newsletter and would like to become more involved and/or contribute, please contact us at any time. We appreciate and welcome feedback and ideas from the community. The editors can be reached at newsletter@smb.org.
We hope you enjoy this issue of the newsletter!
Olivia, Ryan, Ananth, and Kira
Editors, SMB Newsletter
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News Section
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By Ananth Srinivas
In this issue of the News section, we highlight the updates from the SMB Board of Directors, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology (BMB), SMB Subgroups, Upcoming Conferences and Programs, and Royal Society Publishing. Read on below.
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Results from SMB Board of Directors Election
As announced in a communication from June 19th, the SMB Board of Directors will be welcoming the following people to the Board. They will take office immediately following the 2026 SMB Annual Meeting.
- President-elect: Abba B. Gumel (University of Maryland, College Park)
- Directors-at-Large: Kathleen Hoffman (University of Maryland, Baltimore County), Reginald (RB) McGee (Haverford College/Virginia Commonwealth University), Melissa Renardy (GlaxoSmithKline)
- Early Career Members-at-Large: Alex Browning (University of Melbourne), Chunyi Gai (University of Northern British Columbia)
From BMB
The society’s official journal, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, has opened Topical Collections, which include:
- Tutorials on the applications of AI/ML in classical mathematical biosciences. Details here;
- Modeling virus-immune dynamics for disease control. Details here, and
- Data-driven and theoretical advances in mathematical biology. Details here.
All three open collections have closing dates later in 2026.
SMB Subgroup Updates
Immunobiology and Infection
The IMMU subgroup is looking forward to an exciting slate of talks and posters at ECMTB-SMB 2026 in Graz, where Jason Shoemaker and Tin Phan will take over the subgroup’s leadership. They are planning an IMMU subgroup get together, so stay tuned for more details. A very sincere thank you to Daniel Reeves for his years of work as IMMU’s outgoing Secretary. It was so lovely to have the opportunity to work together! If you haven’t yet had the chance to subscribe to the IMMU subgroup’s new(ish) weekly newsletter, you can do so here: https://mathimmunoweekly.substack.com/. The newsletter highlights new papers in the field, meetings and funding opportunity, and job posts, among other fun immunobiology facts and news.
Cell & Developmental Biology (CDEV)
- The CDEV subgroup will host a session at the SMB-ECMTB Annual Meeting in Austria on "State of the art methods in modeling for cell and developmental biology."
- They also host a virtual Summer Seminar Series: CDEV Monthly Monday Summer Seminar Series.
Mathematical Neuroscience
The Mathematical Neuroscience subgroup of the SMB will be well represented at the annual ECMTB meeting in Graz, Austria. There will be eight minisymposia in the Neuroscience and Neural Systems category at the meeting. These cover a wide range of neuroscience topics, including protein dynamics in neurodegenerative diseases, brain development, immune attack on the nervous system in multiple sclerosis, modeling neural assemblies, neural dynamics, and multiple timescale dynamics in neurons and excitable systems. In all, there will be 40 oral minisymposium presentations at the meeting related to mathematical neuroscience. This is in addition to contributed talks and posters. We anticipate lively discussions and exchange of ideas among participants.
Population Dynamics, Ecology and Evolution (PDEE)
The PDEE subgroup held its first annual online conference on February 25, 2026. The conference featured 29 speakers from five continents, and drew over 100 attendees. We are looking forward to the next online conference in early 2027!
The subgroup is sponsoring a Minisymposium and two other events at the SMB-ESMTB meeting in Graz, Austria, this summer. Minisymposium MS131 will take place on Thursday and Friday.
The subgroup’s annual Business Meeting will take place on Tuesday at 12:30, and there will be an informal PDEE lunch gathering on Thursday starting at 12:15 (come at any time). All are welcome! If you wish to come to the Business Meeting or the lunch gathering, be sure to sign up for the conference lunch package on the relevant day(s).
Methods for Biological Modeling
The Methods group would like to advertise about an open special issue titled “Tutorials on the Applications of AI/ML in Classical Mathematical Biosciences”: https://link.springer.com/collections/ddbbjjgjhc.
Cardiovascular Modeling
The Cardiovascular Modeling Subgroup would like to warmly welcome Dr. Keshav Patel to our leadership group. Keshav is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Karin Leiderman's lab at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Keshav becomes the subgroup's first ever Trainee Representative, a role that will give him the opportunity to actively contribute to the coordination of subgroup activities, and a platform to advocate for the needs of early career subgroup members.
Welcome, Keshav!
Reaction Networks (SRN)
The SMB Reaction Networks (SRN) Subgroup continues to build momentum during its inaugural year, with growing community engagement and several exciting scientific initiatives. At the 2026 SMB/ECMTB Annual Meeting in Graz, the SRN Subgroup is organizing multiple minisymposia, including two featured minisymposia entitled Past, Present, and Future of Reaction Networks Theory and Reaction Networks in Modern Mathematical Biology. These featured sessions will include keynote presentations by Gheorghe Craciun (University of Wisconsin–Madison) and Elena Baake (Bielefeld University), respectively, and will be complemented by several additional minisymposia covering deterministic and stochastic reaction networks, systems biology, population genetics, and related applications. The meeting will also host the subgroup's inaugural business meeting, during which members will elect the first regular SRN leadership.
Earlier this year, many SRN members participated in the successful Chemical Reaction Networks in Hawaiʻi (CRNT2026) conference, which brought together researchers from mathematics, biology, chemistry, and engineering. Recordings of most presentations remain publicly available through the conference website, providing a valuable educational resource for the broader community.
The subgroup is also pleased to highlight a recent publication by some of its members —Yi Fu, Hye-Won Kang, Wasiur KhudaBukhsh, Lea Popović, Greg Rempala, and Ruth Williams—published in the SIAM Journal on Life Sciences. The paper, Fragility in a Togashi–Kaneko Stochastic Model with Mutations, appears in one of the inaugural volumes of the journal and represents an exciting contribution to improve our understanding of stochastic reaction networks theory and mathematical biology.
Looking ahead, the subgroup is preparing a proposal for a Collection (Special Issue) in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology devoted to Reaction Networks. The proposed collection will highlight recent advances in deterministic and stochastic reaction network theory and their applications in mathematical biology. We expect to share additional details and a call for papers around the time of the SMB Annual Meeting in Graz.
Finally, congratulations to Professor Alicia Dickenstein, member of the SRN Honorary Advisory Committee, who was recently featured on the Society for Mathematical Biology's Biology in Numbers podcast (Season 3, Episode 7), highlighting her pioneering contributions to chemical reaction network theory and mathematical biology.
Researchers interested in reaction networks are encouraged to join the SRN Subgroup and visit the subgroup website for news, events, resources, and membership information.
Upcoming Conferences and Programs
SMB Annual Meeting
SMB looks forward to welcoming you next week to the 2026 Annual Meeting in Graz, jointly held with ESMTB! Read a message from the organizers below in the Editorial.
CRAB 2026
The organizers of CRAB 2026 would like to invite you to contribute a communication at the 2026 Complexity Research in Animal Behaviour (CRAB) event that will occur as a satellite of the Complex Systems Society Annual Conference (CCS'26) in Binghamton, NY.
In its 3rd edition, CRAB is honored to have two outstanding keynote speakers: Mari Kawakatsu (UPenn) and Andrew Hein (Cornell). Both have made important contributions to the field, publishing influential work that has helped shape our understanding of emergence across a wide range of biological systems.
CRAB is a great place to share your latest research and connect with colleagues also interested on the interface of complexity science and biological systems. We expect a lively debate among the diverse audience featuring scientists from distinct backgrounds (e.g. ecologists, physicists, mathematicians). Please consider submitting an abstract before the July 15th deadline.
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Royal Society Publishing
The journal Interface Focus is currently looking for proposals for theme issues on high quality topics in any area at the interface of the physical, biological and social sciences. To find out more and to submit a proposal, please visit https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsfs/pages/submit-proposal.
Royal Society Publishing has recently published the following OPEN ACCESS theme issues of Philosophical Transactions A under the 'Subscribe to Open' 2026 initiative:
- Symbolic regression in the physical sciences organised and edited by Deaglan J Bartlett, Harry Desmond, Pedro G Ferreira and Gabriel Kronberger and the articles are FREE to access at www.bit.ly/TA2317.
- Statistical workflow compiled and edited by Andrew Gelman, Aki Vehtari, Richard McElreath and Elizabeth Wolkovich and the articles are FREE to access at www.bit.ly/TransA2321.
- Critical transitions and intelligent control in complex systems compiled and edited by Jinqiao Duan and Ting Gao and the articles are FREE to access at www.bit.ly/TransA2322. A print version is also available at the special price of £40.00 per issue from sales@royalsociety.org
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New Book Announcement
Springer has recently published a new book in mathematical biology, Mathematical Demography: Theory and Modeling, by Professor Arni Srinivasa Rao from Augusta University. In his own words:
One of the distinguishing aspects of my textbook is its balanced emphasis on both foundational mathematical and stochastic modeling theory. It is designed so that a mathematical biologist can transition into a strong foundation in stochastic modeling, while at the same time a stochastic modeling-oriented biologist can develop a solid grounding in elements of mathematical biology. This two-way foundation is something unique in this book, which, in my view, is largely lacking in most existing textbooks on the subject, including, for instance, classics like JD Murray's book. Since I work in both these aspects, it worked out well for the book. I dedicated this book to all my early career postdoc mentors, including Anderson and May. In addition, the book includes several out-of-the-box topics in stationary population models that extend beyond the standard scope.
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People Section
By Kira Pugh
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We speak with Parmvir Bahia, a neuroscientist trained in pharmacology and a passionate advocate for science communication, who is the CEO of Scientists Inc and Artha Science Media, director of taste of science festival, and podcast host of 2Scientists. Read our interview here.
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Editorial
By Ryan Murphy
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In this issue, we hear from the organizers of the upcoming ECMTB'26 conference, who share the following:
We are excited for the upcoming edition of the ECMTB/SMB conference, which will take place in Graz, Austria, from July 13th to 17th, 2026, organized by the University of Graz. As a joint meeting of the European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (ESMTB) and the Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB), this edition of the ECMTB will reinforce the event as one of the world's leading conferences at the interface of mathematics, computation, and the life sciences. The conference will gather a unique mix of scientists from across the globe to exchange ideas and present the latest advances in mathematical modelling, data-driven biology, epidemiology, oncology, neuroscience, ecology, systems biology, and many other emerging research areas. The scientific programme includes plenary lectures by internationally renowned experts, minisymposia, contributed talks, poster sessions, and networking opportunities, including dinners or a visit to the gorgeous vineyards of the region of Styria, designed to foster new collaborations across disciplines. With an expected attendance of around 1,300 participants, including a large international contingent, ECMTB 2026 provides a unique forum for exploring how mathematical and computational approaches can help address some of the most pressing challenges in biology, medicine, and public health.
Graz, a vibrant university city located in the Austrian southeastern region of Styria is home of five universities and of a thriving network of technological companies, where historic architecture, innovative research, and exceptional quality of life come together. The city boasts a dynamic research environment, shaped by both its long academic tradition and the influx of innovative ideas from the many interdisciplinary initiatives taking place there. Beyond the conference, the attendants will have the opportunity of discovering the charm of one of Europe's most attractive and dynamic academic cities. From its UNESCO-listed old town and iconic clock tower to its lively cafés, green spaces, and cultural scene, Graz offers an inspiring and welcoming environment for scientists and visitors alike.
All the information can be found there: https://ecmtb2026.org.
We are looking forward to welcome you all in Graz!
Engaging with SMB
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Featured Figure
By Olivia Chu
In this issue, we feature the work of Khola Jamshad and Trachette Jackson in their recent paper, A Hallmark-Integrated, Agent-Based Framework for Intratumor Heterogeneity in Melanoma Evolution.
We asked the authors to tell us a bit more about their work:
We developed an agent-based model, BEP-HIM, to investigate the branching evolutionary dynamics of tumors through a novel framework that explicitly captures the interplay among sustained proliferation, enhanced survival, immune evasion, and the enabling characteristic of genetic instability. The model incorporates biologically grounded representations of tumor cell behavior and immune interactions (left panel) to explore spatiotemporal intratumor heterogeneity (ITH) and its role in shaping key phenotypic behaviors during tumor evolution (middle panel). Although the current implementation is calibrated to melanoma using key driver mutations, the underlying framework is generalizable and can be adapted to study spatial heterogeneity and evolutionary dynamics across a range of cancer types.
BEP-HIM accurately reproduces several clinical observations associated with melanoma and suggests possible mechanisms that may underlie them (right panel). Simulations produce three distinct ITH modes that can be distinguished using a fractal-dimension metric, particularly highlighting the transition from clonal and subclonal regimes to a fractal heterogeneity mode in which spatial arrangements become more complex. The analyses reveal a separation between the determinants of growth and diversity, offering a conceptual tool for understanding why tumors of similar size can exhibit dramatically different evolutionary architectures. Our model shows that CTL recruitment is the most influential parameter in determining tumor ITH as it controls the clearance of tumor cells during early growth periods, supporting experimental findings suggesting that melanoma prognosis is shaped more strongly by tumor–immune interactions than by the genetic subtype of driver mutations. Finally, BEP-HIM captures the importance of tumor cell motility in generating tumor morphologies that more closely match clinical observations.
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