Cecilia Diniz Behn, assistant professor of applied mathematics and statistics at Colorado School of Mines, and graduate student Nora Stack were recently featured in a Cosmos Magazine article about the use of mathematical modeling to tackle problems related to the body's day-night cycle, or circadian rhythm. Among the challenges that circadian models could help address are adjusting to shift work and overcoming jet lag.
From the article:
"We know we need people to do shift work, because we need things to function 24 hours a day," says Stack's dissertation advisor, Cecilia Diniz Behn, also of the Colorado School of Mines.
The goal, she says, is to take what we are learning and find ways to use it to help people adjust to such schedules with minimum harm to their health.