Since 2008 when NIMBioS was established, more than 7,000 researchers have engaged in NIMBioS events, which has resulted in nearly 1,000 publications across a variety of disciplines. The citation rate on those publications is greater than the rates in both mathematics and biology. NIMBioS recently completed its 11th year, and during this period, 558 participants from 19 countries participated in NIMBioS events. One of the core values of NIMBioS is to increase the diversity of researchers and educators at the interface of mathematics and biology, By one diversity measure, overall minority representation across NIMBioS events during year 11 exceeded the numbers for doctoral recipients in the biological and mathematical sciences. Read more highlights from the 11th annual report.

From scanning deserts to forests, scientists across the University of Tennessee campus are using Unmanned Aerial Systems, or drones, in their research, like the one at the Spatial Analysis Lab (SAL) at NIMBioS. SAL's drone will take a maximum payload of 5kg for use in research studies. SAL fosters a collaborative, cross-disciplinary environment for spatial research through supporting proposal submissions, spatial analyses for funded projects, organizing tutorials and seminars, providing access to geospatial technology, and leveraging other spatial analysis capabilities available on campus. In this series of video interviews, researchers describe how drones are being used in scientific research at UT.

A collaboration begun at the NIMBioS Research Collaboration Workshop for Women in Mathematical Biology held in 2015 has culminated in a new computational model, published in PLOS Computational Biology, that successfully predicts how daily pain sensitivity rhythms affect pain processing in healthy adults and in people with neuropathic pain. Read more.

Registration is underway for NIMBioS' 11th annual Undergraduate Research Conference at the Interface of Biology and Mathematics, to be held November 16-17, 2019 at the University of Tennessee Conference Center in Knoxville. The conference provides opportunities for undergraduates to present their research in talks and posters. Also included are a plenary speaker, a panel on career opportunities, a graduate school showcase, and other networking opportunities. Limited support is available to cover the cost of registration, lodging and travel. The deadline to request support is September 25. Conference registration deadline is October 16. Read more.

Support is available for short-term visits of up to one week for groups of one to six people working on projects that conform to the NIMBioS mission to foster interdisciplinary collaborations, research and education at the interface of the quantitative and life sciences. Working onsite at NIMBioS, visitors may link the visit to a previous Working Group or other activity at NIMBioS or to collaborations involving DySoC, SAL or the NIMBioS Education and Outreach program. We particularly welcome collaborative projects involving NIMBioS resident or local researchers; joint applications from two or more researchers to spend time together at NIMBioS; or applications from participants in other NIMBioS activities to work on their project with NIMBioS computational science staff. Applications are considered monthly. Click here for more information and the online application. 

Bennett AE et al. 2019. Beyond the black box: Promoting mathematical collaborations for elucidating interactions in soil ecology. Ecosphere 19: e02799. [from NIMBioS Investigative Workshop on Strategies for the Black Box: Mathematical Tools for Plant–soil Interactions]

Galic N et al. 2019. Predicting impacts of chemicals from organisms to ecosystem service delivery: A case study of insecticide impacts on a freshwater lake. Science of the Total Environment 682: 426-436. [from NIMBioS Working Group: Modeling Organisms to Ecosystems]

Gostic KM et al. 2019. Mechanistic dose-response modeling of animal challenge data shows that intact skin is a crucial barrier to leptospiral infection. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, B. [from NIMBioS Investigative Workshop on Leptospirosis Modeling Investigative Workshop] 

Pullen RW, Abel, SM. 2019. Mechanical feedback enables catch bonds to selectively stabilize scanning microvilli at T-cell surfaces. Molecular Biology of the Cell 30(16). [from NIMBioS Graduate Research Assistantship]

Sample C et al. 2019. Quantifying source and sink habitats and pathways in spatially structured populations: A generalized modelling approach. Ecological Modelling 407:108715. [from NIMBioS Working Group on Habitat for Migratory Species]

Results produced from NIMBioS research activities are important in measuring our success. Please report your publications and other products resulting from NIMBioS activities. Learn how to acknowledge NIMBioS. For the complete list of NIMBioS products, click here .