Come meet one of our candidates for Assistant Professor of Mathematics.

Dr. Ali
Assistant Professor,
Department of Mathematics and Physics, Kansas Wesleyan University

AN AGE-AND PHASE-STRUCTURED MODEL OF THE BLOOD- STAGE DYNAMICS OF UNPERTURBED MALARIA
INFECTION

When Plasmodium parasites begin to multiply in a human's bloodstream, it leads to the manifestation of malaria symptoms. Although scientists have discovered the mechanism of the Plasmodium parasite's life cycle in humans, there is still a need to gain a deeper understanding of the process. This understanding could help to develop better ways to control the disease. Studies focused on the cell cycle in diseases like cancer have yielded significant outcomes that reveal insights into critical phases of the cell cycle. This knowledge could lead to the development of more effective drug-targeting strategies to control the progression of diseases in the human body. To address this need, we have created an age-and-phase-structured parasite population balance model that differentiates parasites based on their life cycle position. This model uses a system of partial differential equations to regulate the kinetics  of  parasite  densities  in  various  phases  of  the  cycle,  which  depend  on  both time t (measured in days) and an age-like variable a (measured in days), describing the time elapsed since entering a specific phase of the parasite life cycle. This model could be instrumental in developing better drug-targeting strategies to control the progression of the disease in human bodies.