Maria-Veronica Ciocanel

Maria-Veronica Ciocanel is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics (Primary) and Biology (Joint) at Duke University's Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, where she has held appointments since 2020. Her research sits at the intersection of mathematical biology, cell biology, and computational modeling, with a particular focus on intracellular transport mechanisms and protein organization in cells.

Her research interests include mathematical cell and developmental biology, emergent dynamics in intracellular transport, multiscale modeling of filamentous protein organization, parameter inference for models of biophysics experiments, applied dynamical systems, and applied topological data analysis. She develops mathematical and computational techniques to uncover the basic functions of intracellular proteins in development and injury, with applications to RNA transport in frog oocytes, radial glial cells, and neurons. Her work combines differential equations, stochastic modeling, and topological data analysis to address fundamental questions in cell biology.

Her recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on mathematical approaches to biological problems, particularly in cytoskeleton dynamics, intracellular transport, and symmetry analysis in developmental systems. She also maintains an active research program in social justice applications, particularly analyzing racial disparities in federal sentencing through mathematical and statistical approaches.

• Lee A. Segel Prize for the Best Paper in the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology (2025) for 'Parameter identifiability in PDE models of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching'
• Red Sock Award (SIAG/Dynamical Systems) for best poster presentation

Ciocanel actively mentors undergraduate students through various research programs including DOmath, PRUV, and Muser. Two of her former students, Anna and Niny, have gone on to become Assistant Professors at University of New Mexico and San Francisco State University, respectively. She has secured significant research funding including grants from the National Science Foundation and Pennsylvania State University for projects on microtubule behavior and membrane-actin cortex adhesion. She is also involved in the RTG: Training Tomorrow's Workforce in Analysis and Applications program as a Co-Principal Investigator.

Her laboratory focuses on mathematical modeling of intracellular transport processes, with particular emphasis on microtubule dynamics in neurons and mRNA transport mechanisms. She collaborates extensively with experimental biologists at institutions including Brown University, Penn State University, and Duke University to ensure her mathematical models remain grounded in biological reality.