Maria Rita D’Orsogna

Maria Rita D’Orsogna is a Professor of Mathematics at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and holds an Adjunct Associate Professor appointment in the Department of Computational Medicine at UCLA. She earned her PhD in Theoretical Physics from UCLA in 2003 and has since bridged mathematical modeling with interdisciplinary research in biology, social dynamics, and criminology. Her work utilizes statistical mechanics and applied mathematics to study collective behavior, viral dynamics, and societal challenges.

Her research spans

• Biological swarming and self-organization
• Crime pattern modeling and policy analysis
• Drug addiction relapse dynamics
• Environmental activism against offshore oil drilling

Recent publications focus on

• Medical decision-making optimization
• Age-specific overdose mortality forecasting
• Radicalization and social network dynamics
• Criminal career empirical studies
• Hematopoiesis modeling

. She has secured funding from the NSF and Army Research Office.

Teaching experience includes differential equations, multivariable calculus, and mathematical biology at CSUN and UCLA. She has mentored students through RIPS, IPAM, and PUMP programs. As Associate Director of UCLA’s Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (2018–2021), she promoted interdisciplinary research. Her environmental advocacy in Italy led to national policy changes banning coastal oil drilling, earning her recognition as the "Erin Brockovich of Italy".