Current: My name is Brian Murphy, a second-year postdoc in The Kirschner Lab. I received my Ph.D. from Marquette University in May 2001, specializing in Bio-mathematical Modeling (read the PDF version of the Introduction to my dissertation). There are three other postdocs in the lab, David, Simeone, and Suman, and a fun, hard-working group of graduate students, including Ian, Ping, and Seema. Currently, there is one graduate rotation student in the lab, Stewart. Finally, two undergrads spend time in our lab when they are not at class: Ben and Karyn. In Denise's Lab my "bug of choice" is Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). I am currently working on two projects: a modified S-I-R model to investigate effects of host-level genetic susceptibility factors on epidemic tuberculosis (TB) at the population-level. See the model figure for our model schematic and a review of our research on this project to-date. a mathematical model of immune response mechanisms to Mtb infection, involving both cellular and cytokine networks. Our aim is to identify main cells, cytokines, and (most importantly) their interactions which lead to proper containment (granuloma formation) of the Mtb bacteria. I recently attended the First SIAM Life Sciences Conference in Boston, MA, where I presented the model framework for identifying influences of genetic susceptibility on epidemic TB. Education: I graduated from Buhl High School (Idaho) in 1989 then earned my B.S. in Mathematics from Boise State University in 1994. I then chose Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) for graduate school because of their Bio-Mathematical Modeling program. My advisor and mentor is Dr. Stephen J. Merrill. I completed my M.S. in 1996 and my Ph.D. in Sept. 2000 (officially May 2001). Personal: I was born in Minnesota but moved to Idaho shortly thereafter. I will always call Idaho my HOME. In my free time I enjoy visiting my family and friends spread throughout the country: Idaho, Wisconsin, Seattle (WA), and Boston (MA). I especially love hiking and camping around Lake Alturus in Idaho, although there are not many opportunities for this anymore. I enjoy (worship) the TV, especially during football season. I am a huge fan of the Green Bay Packers (much to the disappointment of my family of Minnesota Viking fans). Every night I used to escape to Springfield to sit at Moe's with my friend and role model Homer Simpson, but the local TV network has yanked the Simpsons and decided to show yet another episode of Friends. The horror. Click here for all the latest news on The Simpsons. As a side note, I collect Mr. Potato Head toys, most likely due to my Idaho roots. When the TV isn't on, I enjoy listening to music. My five favorite groups are: Metallica (especially during my BSU years...notice the picture below), The Flaming Lips, Galactic Cowboys (no longer in existence), King's X, and U2. Some "guilty pleasures" include, but are not limited to, cooking, The Disney Channel, and Trading Spaces. Some things I dislike most in this world are The Dave Matthew's Band (sorry Seema), TV commercials, people who think they are cool because they drive a BMW, The Lifetime channel for women, and spiders. For additional information, please see my personal website or call 1-900-555-0143 and ask for Bubba. 1989 1993 1998