My research interests lie in building mathematical models using techniques from discrete mathematics. I've studied models of games and voting and communication graphs. My current interests are in biological models, including analyzing DNA code using Markov chains and Hidden Markov Models. I am also involved with a collaborative team from University of Richmond, the VCU Center for Rehabilitation Sciences and Engineering (VCU-CERSE), and the McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center studying quantitative approaches to identifying chronic mild traumatic brain injury in combat-exposed veterans.
I have worked as a co-principal investigator and/or administrator on several grants funding undergraduate research and work integrating mathematics and computer science with biology, chemistry and physics. These include Science Education grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), a grant from the National Science Foundation for the Mathematics LURE (Long-term Undergraduate Research Experiences) program and a grant from the Clare Boothe Luce Foundation for scholarships for women in mathematics, computer science and physics.
I worked with ten other colleagues in mathematics, computer science, biology, chemistry and physics developing a new integrated quantitative science course. This "supercourse" fully integrates the material currently in the first course of the major in each of these five discipllines, offering students a chance to more fully understand the connections between these disciplines and to learn how to approach problems from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Currently, I am involved with a “spin-off” course, SMART (Science, Mathematics, and Research Training), (insert link http://smart.richmond.edu) that offers to first year students a two-semester course that includes an integrated chemistry and biology part taught in conjunction with special sections of Calculus I and II that directly relate concepts of calculus to the biology and chemistry topics.
“The Effect of Brexit on EU Voting Power,” with Steele, D. The UMAP Journal 39:1 (February 2018) 27-39.
“Distinction in EEG slow oscillations between chronic mild traumatic brain injury and PTSD,” with Franke, L., Walker, W, and Wares, J. International Journal of Psychophysiology 106 (August 2016): 21-29
Characterizing the effects of mTBI and PTSD on balance impairments in blast-exposed Service Members and Veterans using computerized posturography,” with Wares, J., Walker, W., Franke, L, Cifu, D., Carne, W., and Ford-Smith, Cheryl, J. Rehabilitation Research & Development 52 (5),(2015):591-604.
“Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen on Eye Tracking Abnormalities in Males after Mild Traumatic Brain Injury,” with Cifu, D.; Wetzel, P.; Wares, J.; Gitchel, G.; Carne, W.; Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development 51(7), (2014): 1047-56.
“Differential Eye Movements in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury vs Normal Controls,” with Cifu, D.; Wares, J.; Wetzel, P.; Gitchel, G.; Carne,W.; Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation 20(1) (2014): 21-8.
“Institutional support for undergraduate research,” with Pantano, A., Zarrouk, M., and Zeleke, A., Involve 7:3 (2014): 355-362.
“Challenging Disciplinary Boundaries in the First-Year: A New Introductory Integrated Science Course for STEM Majors,” with Gentile, L.; Caudill, L.; Fetea, M.; Hill, A.; Lawson, B.; Lipan, O.; Kerckhove, M.; Parish, C.; Stenger, K.; Szajda, D., Journal of College Science Teaching 41 (5), May 2012.
“Global Problems as a Framework for Integrated STEM Learning in the First Year,” with L. Gentile, Diversity and Democracy (AAC&U) 14 (2), Spring 2011: 15-16.
“Impact of Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research in Mathematics and Biology on the Development of a New Course Integrating 5 STEM Disciplines,” with L. Caudill, A. Hill, O. Lipan, CBE-Life Sci Educ 2010: 212-216.
"Early Involvement in Undergraduate Research at the University of Richmond," with L. Gentile, CUR Quarterly, Fall 2008.
“The Long-Term Undergraduate Research (LURE) Model,” S. S. Adams, J. A. Davis, N. Eugene, K. Hoke, S. Narayan, K. Smith, Proceedings of the Conference on Promoting Undergraduate Research in Mathematics, J.A. Gallian (Editor), American Mathematical Society (2007) 215-218.
Appendix to "Determination of bias in the relative abundance of oligonucleotides in DNA sequences, " with S. Vogel* and J. Elhai, Journal of Computational Biology (2001).
"Communication Games and the Canadian Constitution," with K. Noonan*, The UMAP Journal 18.2 (1997) 95-104.
