Robert Dillon

Robert H. Dillon is a Professor of Mathematics at Washington State University (WSU), specializing in Mathematical Biology, Computational Biofluids, and Scientific Computing. He holds a B.A. in History from Stanford University (1967), followed by a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Mathematics from Western Washington University (1987-1989) and the University of Utah (1993). His research focuses on fluid-structure interactions in biological systems, including tumor microenvironments, biofilm dynamics, and cell motility. He has received awards such as the NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship (1995-1998) and WSU’s Outstanding Research Award (2008).

• Education:
• B.A., History, Stanford University, 1967
• B.S., Mathematics, Western Washington University, 1987
• M.S., Mathematics, Western Washington University, 1989
• Ph.D., Mathematics, University of Utah, 1993
• Research Interests:
• Mathematical Biology: Modeling tumor microenvironments, biofilm dynamics, and cell motility
• Computational Biofluids: Fluid-structure interaction in biological systems
• Numerical Methods: Immersed boundary and Lagrangian mesh techniques

His work integrates computational models with experimental data to study systems like ciliary beating, sperm motility, and dielectrophoretic particle interactions. Recent projects include developing hybrid methods for AC dielectrophoresis and modeling TGF-β signaling pathways in tumors.

• Awards:
• NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (1995-1998)
• University of Utah Graduate Research Fellowship (1991-1992)
• WSU Department of Mathematics Outstanding Research Award (2008)

He has advised numerous collaborative projects, including grants like the CDS&E grant for tumor microenvironment modeling. His lab focuses on interdisciplinary applications of computational methods in biology and engineering.