Dr. David Swigon is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh with a secondary appointment in the Department of Computational and Systems Biology. He is also affiliated with the Center for Inflammation and Regenerative Modeling within the McGowan Institute. Dr. Swigon attended Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, where he received his MS and PhD in Theoretical Mechanics.

Dr. Swigon’s research interests are in the area of mathematical biology; in particular, construction of mathematical models of biological systems within the framework of theories of continuum mechanics, dynamical systems, and stochastic dynamics.

• DNA mechanics – projects include the development micromechanical models of DNA elasticity that combine atomic-scale and continuum mechanics approaches with recent advances in computational chemistry and employ information obtained by X-ray crystallography, single-molecule manipulation, and other experimental techniques. Part of Dr. Swigon’s research program is oriented towards continuum modeling of complex macromolecular assemblies and the application of stochastic and deterministic dynamics in the study of molecular biological processes.
• Mathematical Immunology – projects include the development of mathematical models of in-host human immune response to influenza A virus infection and the relation between immunity and inflammation. With his collaborators the team has developed an ODE model for individual response, and an ensemble model capable of characterizing probabilistic outcomes of treatment scenarios.
• Cell Migration – projects include the development of a mathematical model of migration of enterocytes during intestinal wound healing process that is based on novel assumption of elastic deformation of the cell layer and incorporates cell mobility, adhesion, and proliferation.

Dr. Swigon is a publication reviewer for numerous journals, including but not limited to, Cell, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA,International Journal of Nonlinear Mechanics, Proceedings of Royal Society A, Chaos, Macromolecules, Journal of Computational Physics, Journal of Elasticity, Bulletin for Mathematical Biology, and Journal of Solids and Structures. He has also reviewed grants for the National Science Foundation and CERG (Hong Kong Science Funding Agency). Dr. Swigon is a Member of the American Mathematical Society, the Biophysical Society, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and the Society for Natural Philosophy.

View a list of Dr. Swigon’s publications here.