NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Leah Jackson (jacksonl@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

3/10/2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES - Dr. Andrei Ludu, professor of chemistry and physics at Northwestern State University, will give a plenary seminar in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst March 13-17. Ludu will discuss his research on "Flagellar dynamics, waves and swimming patterns at zero."

Ludu was invited to participate in the seminar following the publication of an article he co-authored with Dr. P. Kevrekidis from the University of Massachusetts through a grant collaboration. The talk and collaboration are based on topics initiated by the undergraduate research program IDEAS during the International Symposium on Interdisciplinary Science hosted by NSU in 2004.

Ludu's research focuses on using complex mathematics to understand cell motility, the way microorganisms are able to move, which can be applied to prevent the spread of disease. Ludu succeeded in bringing in a new geometrical mathematical model to study the cells.

"Steps forward happened only when biophysicists and applied mathematicians took over on the problem," Ludu said. "Within the IDEAS program at NSU we devoted some research on this topic, especially to reformulate it on a more rigorous mathematical basis."

University of Massachusetts is the flagship university of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' university system and is regarded as a world center for vital research in fields such as polymer science, artificial intelligence, microwave engineering, and the life sciences.

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