2023 SMB Awards

The Society for Mathematical Biology is pleased to announce the recipients of its 2023 Society Awards. These individuals will be honored at the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Society for Mathematical Biology.

Ivana Bozic, University of Washington, will receive the Akira Okubo Prize, awarded jointly with the Japanese Society for Mathematical Biology, for her significant contributions in mathematical modeling of cancer evolution and her groundbreaking approach in synthesis of theory and data and its impact in the fields of mathematical biology and cancer research.

Santiago Schnell, University of Notre Dame, will receive the Arthur T. Winfree Prize for his outstanding contributions to many areas of biology, and in particular his seminal work on enzyme kintetics. Prof. Schnell’s theories and mathematical modelling of enzyme catalyzed reactions have been transformative for the fields of catalysis and enzyme kinetics while leading, at the same time, to a resurgence of new mathematical biology research in enzyme kinetics.

Trachette Jackson, University of Michigan, will be the recipient of the Leah Edelstein-Keshet Prize for her significant contributions to mathematical oncology and mathematical modeling in other medical contexts. Prof. Jackson’s research has had a profound effect on the field of mathematical biology because of its comprehensive understanding of the underlying biological processes, and her creative use of mathematical analysis and computational tools. Prof. Jackson’s exceptional work will serve to light the way for many other researchers that will follow, not just in the particular areas that she studies, but in emulating her methodologies, careful inclusion of data, and close collaboration with researchers in other disciplines.

Helen Taylor, Editorial Assistant, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, will receive the Distinguished Service Award for her extraordinary service to the Society for Mathematical Biology. Without her exceptional contributions, the journal and, by extension, the Society for Mathematical Biology, would be poorer, literally and figuratively. Working entirely in the background, Helen’s service to SMB has been and continues to be of the utmost importance.

Chengyue Wu, UT Austin, will be the recipient of the H. D. Landahl Mathematical Biophysics Award for her extremely creative, exciting, and high impact contributions for both diagnosing breast cancers and predicting their response to therapy. Furthermore, her techniques are readily generalizable to any solid tumor type, thereby having impact well beyond their initial applications in breast cancer.

Paul Macklin, Indiana University, will be the recipient of the John Jungck Prize for Excellence in Education based on his significant contributions to the education and promotion of interdisciplinary research at the interface between science, technology, and humans. Additionally, the award honors Prof. Macklin’s focus on the development of educational tools that can help inspire young mathematicians and computer scientists into the field of mathematical biology.

Sara Hamis, Tampere University, will receive the Lee A. Segel Prize for best paper as corresponding author on the article “Targeting cellular DNA damage responses in cancer: an in vitro-calibrated agent-based model simulating monolayer and spheroid treatment responses to ATR-inhibiting drugs”, published in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 83(10):103 (2021).

Elijah Counterman, University of Utah, will receive the Lee A. Segel Prize for best student paper as leading author on the article “Designing drug regimens that mitigate nonadherence”, published in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 84:20 (2022).

Richard Bertram, Florida State University, Sivabal Sivaloganathan, University of Waterloo, and Jane Heffernan, York University (SMB President-Elect), will be named Fellows of the Society for Mathematical Biology.