This U.S.-Polish Cooperative Research award is for a workshop on mathematical biology to be held in Zakopane, Poland, from June 21 to 26, 1998. The principal investigators for the U.S. are Dr. William E. Fitzgibbon of the University of Houston and Dr. Marek Kimmel of Rice University. The principal investigator for the Polish side is Dr. Jerzy Golubowicz, Vice Director of the Institute of Environmental Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The objective of the workshop is to establish an international collaborative research program. The workshop will bring together applied mathematicians and theoretical biologists from the U.S. with field biologists, population biologists, and environmentalists from Poland and Central Eastern Europe (Belarus, Bohemia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine). The European contingent will include individuals gathering field data on the distribution and dynamics of mammalian diseases and the spread and individuals seeking to control the spread of pathogenic organisms. The region includes both unspoiled natural habitats and areas of unprecedented industrial pollution. Mathematical modeling and simulation are becoming an increasingly useful methodology for understanding the spread of pathogens and diseases and assessing the impact of pollutants and predicting their future course and evaluating the adequacy of remedial measures.
This research in applied mathematics (mathematical biology) fulfills the program objectives of bringing together leading experts in the U.S. and Poland to combine complementary efforts and capabilities in areas of strong mutual interest and competence on the basis of equality, reciprocity, and mutuality of benefit.
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