Sasha Shirman

Sasha received her PhD in physics from UC San Diego. Her graduate work focused on the methods for modeling and parameterizing ODEs primarily applied to avian neurons. She then conducted postdoctoral research at the department for Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics at Northwestern University on a range of biological systems. She contributed to the development of data driven methods for sparse model selection with hidden (or unmeasured) variables. She collaborated with experimental biologists to develop physically descriptive biological models for C. elegans larval stage transitions. Additionally, she used ODE models and data from metabolic pathways within Salmonella enterica microcompartments to estimate physical parameters that are otherwise unmeasurable. While at Northwestern, Sasha also taught multivariable calculus for engineering students.