Interdisciplinary Life Science - PULSe Office of Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs

Alexandria Volkening

Alexandria Volkening Profile Picture

Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics (and Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, by courtesy)
Ph.D., Brown University

Contact Info:

avolkening@purdue.edu
765-496-1052
Office: MATH 610
Volkening Lab

Training Group(s):
Biomolecular Structure and Biophysics
Computational and Systems Biology

Active Mentor - currently hosting PULSe students for laboratory rotations and recruiting PULSe students into the laboratory; serves on preliminary exam committees

Current Research Interests:

My team's broad research area is mathematical biology and applied math. We are interested in understanding how cells or other agents come together to create rich, group-level dynamics, particularly in developmental-biology settings. My primary focus has been investigating pigment-cell dynamics in zebrafish-skin patterns, with the goal of helping to identify links between genes, cell behavior, and phenotype. Our projects range from building experimentally-testable models for specific biological applications to developing mathematical methods for quantifying cell-based patterns, simulation frameworks, or data-driven methods for selecting models --- we draw on a wide range of mathematical approaches depending on where the driving biological question leads us. We're also always interested in building collaborations with experimentalists in new areas.

Selected Publications:

A Volkening, DF Linder, MA Porter, GA Rempala. Forecasting elections using compartmental models of infection. SIAM Review, 62(4):837-865, 2020.

A Volkening. Linking genotype, cell behavior, and phenotype: multidisciplinary perspectives with a basis in zebrafish patterns. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, 63:78-85, 2020.

MR McGuirl, A Volkening, B Sandstede. Topological data analysis of zebrafish patterns. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA. 117(10):5113-5124, 2020.

A Volkening, B Sandstede. Iridophores as a source of robustness in zebrafish stripes and variability in Danio patterns. Nature Communications 9:3231, 2018.

A Volkening, B Sandstede. Modelling stripe formation in zebrafish: an agent-based approach. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 12(112):20150812, 2015.

  • Faculty Profile

Ernest C. Young Hall, Room 170 | 155  S. Grant Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2114 | 765-494-2600

© Purdue University | An equal access/equal opportunity university | Copyright Complaints | Maintained by The Purdue University Graduate School

If you have trouble accessing this page because of a disability, please contact The Purdue University Graduate School.