Mette S. Olufsen

Mette S. Olufsen is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at North Carolina State University (NC State), affiliated with the College of Sciences. She leads the Cardiovascular Dynamics Research Group and directs the DRUMS REU Program. Her research focuses on mathematical biology, cardiovascular physiology, and inverse problems, with expertise in differential equations and fluid mechanics applied to biomedical systems.

Olufsen holds a PhD in Applied and Industrial Mathematics from Roskilde University (1998) and an MS in Mathematics and Computer Science from the same institution. Her work integrates computational models with experimental data to study cardiovascular, respiratory, and inflammatory systems. Notable projects include modeling pulmonary hypertension, autonomic cardiovascular control during orthostatic stress, and parameter optimization in single-ventricle patient models.

She collaborates extensively on interdisciplinary projects, publishing in journals like Mathematical Biosciences and Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology. Her research groups span Control, Optimization, and Modeling; Mathematical Biology; and Numerical Analysis. She also contributes to educational initiatives through the REU program, fostering undergraduate research in biomathematics.

Olufsen’s labs and teams focus on translating mathematical models into clinical applications, particularly in understanding cardiovascular dynamics under stress and disease. Her work bridges applied mathematics with biomedical engineering, emphasizing practical clinical relevance and parameter identifiability in complex biological systems.