Research

Projects and Collaboration

I collaborate with Dr. Don Edwards, with whom I co-mentor two PhD students, Bryce Chung and Jarod Collens. We are developing computational techniques for model inference and parameter estimation for biomechanical and electrophysioloical models, focused on invertebrates.

Funding

My work is currently supported by an NSF grant from the Emerging Models and Technologies program of the Division of Computer and Communication Foundations. The title is "A Computational Framework for Inferring Self-Regulatory Properties from High-Dimensional Dynamic Models of Biological Systems".

I have also received internal GSU Research Initiation Grant and Brains and Behavior Seed Grant awards. I have current STEM teaching grant funding in projects with Drs. Iman Chahine (College of Ed.) and Mark Grinshpon (Dept. of Math and Stats) to study pre-calculus interventions in teaching calculus.

Recent publications

• R. Clewley, Hybrid Models and Biological Model Reduction with PyDSTool, PLoS Computational Biology 8(8): e1002628 (2012).
• J. Wojcik, R. Clewley, A. Shilnikov, Order parameter for bursting polyrhythms in multifunctional central pattern generators, Physical Review E, Volume 83, No. 5 (2011).
• R. Clewley, Inferring and quantifying the role of an intrinsic current in a mechanism for a half-center bursting oscillation: A dominant scale and hybrid dynamical systems analysis, Journal of Biological Physics, Volume 37, Issue 3 (2011), Page 285-306. [preprint (with minor sign correction); PyDSTool code for this paper].
• R. Clewley, Encoding the Fine-Structured Mechanism of Action Potential Dynamics with Qualitative Motifs, Journal of Computational Neuroscience, 30:2, 391-408, 2011. [preprint; PyDSTool code for this paper]
• R. Clewley, C. Soto-Trevino, F. Nadim, Dominant ionic mechanisms explored in the transition between spiking and bursting using local low-dimensional reductions of a biophysically realistic model neuron, Journal of Computational Neuroscience, 26(1), 75-90, 2009.

Lab

I share a computational lab with my collaborator Dr. Shilnikov in the Petit Science Center. We have a network of Macs, Linux machines and PCs, a machine with a Graphics Processing Unit for parallel computations, and interactive visualization tools.

Open Positions

I have an open PhD position to work in the area of mathematical neuroscience and computational modeling. Formal applications should be made either through the Math and Stats Department or the Neuroscience Institute, depending on the applicant's background. Contact me for further details, attaching a copy of your resume and information about your interests.

I also have open undergraduate lab internships available for students with existing skills in at least one (preferably two) of the following skills: python programming (or advanced programming skills in another language), the mathematics of ODEs and dynamical systems, and neurophysiology. Students without such skills will find it hard to participate in our lab's multi-disciplinary research over a short internship, and might be best off doing some directed private study first. Feel free to contact me to discuss your interests, sending me a recent course list with grades and a resume.