Anna Konstorum Department of Mathematics University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697 [email protected] www.math.uci.edu/~akonstor EDUCATION PhD Candidate, Mathematics University of California, Irvine Dissertation topic: Multiscale modeling of tumor growth in microenvironment Advisor: Dr. John Lowengrub 2012-present Irvine, CA MS, Mathematics University of California, Irvine 2011-2012 Irvine, CA Mathematical, Computational, and Systems Biology Gateway Graduate Program University of California, Irvine 2010-2011 Irvine, CA MS, Physiological Sciences 2008-2010 University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Thesis topic: Computational determination of SNP-induced splicing deregulation in the human genome Advisor: Dr. Grace Xiao BSc (Honours), Biology McGill University 2001-2005 Montreal, Quebec, Canada GRANTS AND AWARDS Best Poster Award SIAM Conference on the Life Sciences, Charlotte, NC Pre-Doctoral Training Grant Fellow National Institute of Human Health and Child Development (NIHCD) Center for Complex Biological Systems Opportunity Grant Quantification and modeling of in vitro assays of tissue growth and chemical diffusion. (Co-recipient, Dr. Dong-Ku Kang, UC Irvine) 2014 2012-2014 2013 Pre-Doctoral Training Grant Fellow National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) 2010-2012 UCLA University Fellowship 2009-2010 RESEARCH EXPERIENCE Department of Mathematics, University of California, Irvine 01/2011 – present Thesis student, Laboratory of Dr. John Lowengrub  Currently working to extend a multispecies model of solid tumor growth to include tumor-host interactions and to generalize the model to developing tissues.  Involved in a collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. Marian Waterman of the Dept. of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at UCI to experimentally validate model results.  Implement and numerically analyze equations in Fortran 90 and visualize results in Matlab. Systems Biology Ireland 09/2014 Visiting research student, Supervisor: Dr. Boris Kholodenko  Worked to adapt a rule-based model of JUN kinase (JNK) activation in neuroblastoma to breast cancer using experimental data.  Model implementation, parameter estimation, and robustness analysis was performed in Matlab. Department of Statistics, University of California, Irvine 09/2010 – 01/2011 Rotation student, Laboratory of Dr. Babak Shahbaba  In collaboration with a graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Shahbaba, created a hierarchical Bayesian model of fMRI results from a multi-site study of cognitive function of Schizophrenic patients. Department of Physiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles 01/2009-09/2010 Thesis student, Laboratory of Dr. Grace Xiao  Created a bioinformatic algorithm to predict changes in alternative splicing of genes by newly discovered human disease SNPs.  Organized and analyzed high-throughput data generated from deep sequencing technology.  Utilized Python 2.6 programming language and R statistical software to perform selected analyses. Department of Physiology, McGill University 09/2004-04/2005 Honors Student / Research Assistant, Laboratory of Dr. John White  Studied the effects of Vitamin D3 on gene regulation, with a focus on cell differentiation.  Used cell culture techniques and transfection analysis to analyze specific gene regulation by Vitamin D through transcriptional control.  Honors research focused on verification of the presence of functional Vitamin D response elements in two specific genes involved in cell cycle control pathways. PUBLICATIONS Konstorum, A., Sprowl, S.A., Lander, A.D., Waterman, M.L., Lowengrub, J.S. (2013) Predicting mechanism of biphasic growth factor action on tumor growth using a multi-species model with feedback control, J. Coupled Syst. Multiscale Dyn, 1(4), 459-467. Lim M., Hou A., Congdon N., Chua J. (2013) Feature Identification for Colon Tumor Classification, SIAM Undergraduate Journal Online, 6, 264-274. (Served as faculty advisor). Konstorum, A., Sprowl, S.A., Lander, A.D., Waterman, M.L., Lowengrub, J.S. (2013) Elaboration of a multispecies model of solid tumor growth with tumor-host interactions, Proc. 3rd Int Conf. Appl. Nonlinear Dynamics, Seattle, WA Springer Verlag p.295-303. Zhou, B., Tieu, K.H., Konstorum, A., Duong, T., Wells, WM, Brown, G.G., Stern, H., and Shahbaba, B. (2013) A hierarchical modeling approach to data analysis and study design in a multi-site experimental fMRI study, Psychometrika, 78(12), 260-278. Wang, T.T., Tavera-Mendoza, L., Laperriere, D., Nagai, Y., Burton MacLeod, N., Libby, E., Zhang, R., Bourdeau, V., Konstorum, A., Lallemant, B., Mader, S. and White, J.H. (2005) Large-scale in silico and microarray-based genomic screening of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 target genes, Mol. Endocrinol. 19, 2685-95. THESIS Konstorum, A. (2010) Computational determination of SNP-induced splicing deregulation in the human genome, M.S. Thesis. University of California, Los Angeles. TALKS • Quantification of tumor-environment interactions 05/2014 Center for Complex Biological Systems Center Retreat, Pasadena, CA • Use of a combined experimental-mathematical approach to predict novel gene regulatory activity by HGF, a cancer-associated stroma-derived growth factor 12/2013 Institute of Physics: Quantitative Methods in Gene Regulation II, Cambridge, UK • A multispecies mathematical model to predict non-monotonic effects of HGF on tumor spheroid growth 08/2013 Applied Mathematics, Modeling, and Computational Science (AMMCS) Conference, Waterloo, Canada POSTERS • Prediction of biphasic mitogenic activity by HGF, a cancer-associated stroma-derived growth factor, using a multispecies continuum model SIAM Conference on the Life Sciences, Charlotte, North Carolina • Predicting nonlinearity of tumor spheroid growth in HGF media: a data-driven multispecies continuum model Institute of Physics (IOP) Conference: Physics of Emergent Behaviour, Brighton, UK • Towards an experimentally-calibrated multispecies continuum model of tumor growth in microenvironment International Conference on Theory and Applications in Nonlinear Dynamics, Seattle, WA. • A multispecies continuum model of in vitro HGF-induced tumor spheroid growth Center for Complex Biological Systems Center Retreat, Los Angeles, CA. • The microenvironment in tumor growth and Wnt dynamics: a multispecies continuum model Wnt 2011 Conference, Los Angeles, CA 08/2014 06/2013 08/2012 03/2012 06/2011 TEACHING AND OUTREACH Department of Mathematics, UC Irvine Graduate Assistant Interdisciplinary Computational and Applied Math Program (iCAMP) 06/2012- Present  Help to guide undergraduate students in development of novel metrics for in vitro tumor and blood vessel growth and dispersion using image processing and classification techniques.  Students were accepted to present their results at the Mathematical Biosciences Institute (MBI) Undergraduate Capstone Conference in Columbus, Ohio, Aug. 13-17, 2012. Teaching Assistant  Calculus AB (Summer 2014), Numerical Analysis (Fall 2014). Department of Physiological Sciences, UCLA Teaching Assistant  Life Sciences 2: Cells, Tissues, and Organs (Fall 2008, Winter 2009, Spring 2009, Winter 2010), Comparative Animal Physiology (Fall 2009), Molecular Systems Biology (Spring 2010). REFERENCES Dr. John Lowengrub (UC Irvine, [email protected]), Dr. Marian Waterman (UC Irvine, [email protected]), Dr. Fred Wan (UC Irvine, [email protected]), Dr. Grace Xiao (UCLA, [email protected]). Others available upon request.