Patrick Murphy

Assistant Professor

patrick.a.murphy@sjsu.edu
408-924-4551
MH317

Education

• B.S. Applied Mathematics, Montana State University
• Ph.D. Applied Mathematics, University of Utah

Research Areas

• Applied Mathematics
• Mathematical Biology
• Stochastic Processes

Biography

My interests lie in applying mathematical, statistical, and physical models to biological problems. In particular, I focus on understanding stochastic processes in cell biology and emergent phenomena in biological communities. Fascinating examples of such phenomena appear all around us since cells make up all living organisms, and organisms interact from as small a scale as bacterial communities all the way up to human populations. Teasing apart the physical and social rules that generate communal behavior and unraveling how random fluctuations impact the underlying systems are what drive me. This involves various methods of approach including but not limited to: agent-based modeling, statistical methods and probability theory, hybrid discrete-continuous random systems, kinetic theory, Markovian and non-Markovian processes, and classic differential equations.

I completed my undergraduate degree in Applied Mathematics at Montana State University along the beautiful Rocky Mountains before completing a Doctorate degree in Applied Mathematics at the University of Utah along the beautiful Rocky Mountains (bit of a theme there). I also held a postdoctoral position at the Igoshin Lab in Bioengineering and the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, both located in Rice University. In my spare time, I enjoy finding good food, exploring the outdoors (wherever that may be), and maybe getting in some progress on more artsy projects.