Inspired by the Research Collaboration Workshop for Women in Mathematical Biology, this volume contains research and review articles that cover topics ranging from models of animal movement to the flow of blood cells in the embryonic heart. Hosted by the National Institute for Mathematics and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), the workshop brought together women working in biology and mathematics to form four research groups that encouraged multidisciplinary collaboration and lifetime connections in the STEM field. This volume introduces many of the topics from the workshop, including the aerodynamics of spider ballooning; sleep, circadian rhythms, and pain; blood flow regulation in the kidney; and the effects of antimicrobial therapy on gut microbiota and microbiota andClostridium difficile. Perfect for students and researchers in mathematics and biology, the papers included in this volume offer an introductory glimpse at recent research in mathematical biology.

Anita Layton is the Robert R. and Katherine B. Penn Associate Professor of Mathematics at Duke University. She is the author, along with Aurelie Edwards, of the Lecture Notes on Mathematical Modeling in the Life Sciences volumeMathematical Modeling of Renal Physiology (2013). Her research focuses on mathematical physiology, multiscale numerical methods, and numerical methods for immersed boundary problems.Laura Miller is Associate Professor of Biology and Mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also serves as Principal Investigator of the Mathematical Physiology Group. Her research examines the developmental and evolutionary significance of fluid dynamic forces in biological systems, particularly how biological structures have evolved to increase fluid transport and locomotion efficiency, the way fluid forces constrain biological design, and the influence of fluid scaling effects during animal development.

"The modulation of pain by circadian and sleep-dependent processes: A review of the experimental evidence" by Megan Hastings Hagenauer, Jennifer A. Crodelle, Sofia H. Piltz, Natalia Toporikova, Paige Ferguson, and Victoria Booth.- "Investigating circadian rhythmicity in pain sensitivity using a neural circuit model for spinal cord processing of pain" by Jennifer A. Crodella, Sofia H. Piltz, Victoria Booth, Megan Hastings Hagenauer.- "A two-process model for circadian and sleep-dependent modulation of pain sensitivity" by Natalia Toporikova, Megan Hastings Hagenauer, Paige Ferguson and Victoria Booth.- "Introduction to Mathematical Modeling of Blood Flow Control in the Kidney" by Anita T. Layton and Aurélie Edwards.- "Modeling autoregulation of the afferent arteriole of the rat" by Maria-Veronica Ciocanel, Tracy L. Stepien, Aurélie Edwards, Anita T. Layton.- "Modeling blood flow and oxygenation in a diabetic kidney" Ioannis Sgouralis and Anita T. Layton.- "Tracking the distribution of a solute bolus in the rat kidney" by Anita T. Layton.- "Mathematical modeling of the effects of nutrient competition and bile acid metabolism by the gut microbiota on colonization resistance against Clostridium difficile" by Arietta Fleming-Davies, Sara Jabbari, Suzanne L. Robertson, Tri Sri Noor Asih, Critina Lanzas, Suzanne Lenhart, and Casey M. Theriot.- "Revisiting the physics of spider ballooning" by Kimberly S. Sheldon, Longhua Zhao, Angela Chuang, Iordanka N. Panayotova, Laura A. Miller, Lydia Bourouiba.- "Flying spiders: Simulating and modeling the dynamics of ballooning" by Longhua Zhao, Iordank N. Panayotova, Angela Chuang, Kimberly S. Sheldon, Lydia Bourouiba, Laura A. Miller.- "On the dynamic suction pumping of blood cells in tubular hearts" by Nicholas A. Battista, Andrea N. Lane, Laura A. Miller.- "Undergraduate research highlight: Modeling movement behavior among interacting species" by Anne Talkington.