The Center for Mathematical Biology promotes the exchange of ideas and the development of collaborative research that leverages mathematical models, artificial intelligence, and digital twin technologies to advance the life sciences.
As the study of living systems becomes increasingly quantitative, new opportunities emerge for innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration. The Center builds on Penn State’s considerable strengths across a wide range of disciplines, united by a shared emphasis on mathematical, statistical, computational, and AI-driven tools to extract insight from biological data and observations.
Our members come from diverse academic backgrounds spanning multiple departments and colleges. Together, they integrate observational, experimental, mathematical, statistical, computational, and machine-learning–based approaches to address fundamental questions in biology and medicine.
We work at the interface between empirical observation and quantitative methodology, with a particular focus on digital twin modeling—the development of data-informed, mechanistic, and AI-enhanced virtual representations of biological systems. While models may begin as descriptive tools, our emphasis is on building predictive and personalized frameworks. Our overarching goal is to integrate observation and modeling in key application areas including cancer, cell biology, ecology, epidemiology, and neuroscience.