Welcome to Ning Wei's homepage

Contact Information

Assistant Professor
Department of Mathematics
Purdue University
Office: 404 Department of Mathematics
        Purdue University
        150 N. University St
        West Lafayette, IN 47907
Email: wei307@purdue.edu
Phone: 765-494-3405
If you are seeking graduate or undergraduate research opportunities, feel free to contact me.

Education

School of Mathematics, University of Minnesota
Ph.D. Mathematics, May 2016
Advisers: Yoichiro Mori, Alena Tolkacheva

Professional Appointments and Affiliations

  • National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB)
    Affiliate Member, Nov. 2025 - Oct. 2026


  • Department of Mathematics, Purdue University
    Assistant Professor, Aug. 2020 - present


  • Department of Mathematics, Purdue University
    Visiting Assistant Professor, Aug. 2018 - Jul. 2020
    Mentor: Gregory T. Buzzard


  • Department of Mathematics, Duke University
    Visiting Assistant Professor, Aug. 2016 - Jul. 2018
    Mentor: Anita T. Layton

    • Research Interests

    Mathematical Physiology and Dynamical Systems

    Teaching

  • Math 351 (Spring 2026)

  • Math 303 (Fall 2025)

  • Math 303 (Spring 2025)

  • Math 266 (Fall 2024)

  • Math 265 (Spring 2024)

  • Math 303 (Fall 2023)

  • Math 303 (Spring 2023)

  • Math 303 (Fall 2022)

  • Math 351 (Spring 2022)

  • Math 266 (Spring 2021)

  • Math 265 (Spring 2020)

  • Math 265 (Fall 2019)

  • Math 265 (Spring 2019)

  • Math 265 (Fall 2018)

    • Publications

    
[J16] N. Wei and J. Lin. Mechanisms of reentry arrhythmia termination with ephaptic coupling and gap junctional coupling.
      Journal of Theoretical Biology 618: 112308, 2026.
      link

[J15] N. Wei and Y. Mori. Analytical insights into ephaptic coupling and its effect on conduction velocity.
      Journal of Mathematical Biology 91(6): 85, 2025.
      link

[J14] N. Wei, S. Saghafi, E. Khan, and C. O. Diekman. Modeling circadian clock regulation of immune system response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and antiviral treatment.
      Journal of Biological Rhythms 40(6): 594-604, 2025.
      link

[J13] N. Wei and Y. Mori. Role of ionic electrodiffusion and ephaptic coupling in cardiac dynamics.
      Biophysical Journal 124(18): 3060-3074, 2025.
      link

[J12] N. Wei and E. G. Tolkacheva. The role of ephaptic coupling and gap junctional coupling in modulating the initiation and dynamics of reentrant arrhythmias.
      PLoS One 20(8): e0330016, 2025.
      link

[J11] N. Wei and C. O. Diekman. Dosing time of day impacts the safety of antiarrhythmic drugs in a computational model of cardiac electrophysiology.
      Journal of Biological Rhythms 40(3): 301-310, 2025.
      link

[J10] N. Wei. Sex differences in cardiac dynamics during myocardial ischemia using a single cell approach.
      Scientific Reports 15(1): 9153, 2025.
      link

[J9] C. Weathered, N. Wei and E. Pienaar. Reduced macrophage killing of M. avium drives infection risk in post-menopausal patients.
     Tuberculosis 139: 102304, 2023.
     link

[J8] N. Wei and E. G. Tolkacheva. Mechanisms of arrhythmia termination during myocardial ischemia: role of ephaptic coupling and complex geometry of border zone.
     PLoS One 17(3): e0264570, 2022.
     link

[J7] C. Diekman and N. Wei. Circadian rhythms of early afterdepolarizations and ventricular arrhythmias in a cardiomyocyte model.
     Biophysical Journal 120(2): 319-333, 2021.
     link

[J6] N. Wei and E. G. Tolkacheva. Interplay between ephaptic coupling and complex geometry of border zone during acute myocardial ischemia: effect on arrhythmogeneity.
     Chaos 30(3): 033111, 2020.
     link

[J5] N. Wei, M. L. Gumz and A. T. Layton. Predicted effect of circadian clock modulation of NHE3 of a proximal tubule cell on sodium transport.
     American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology 315(3): F665-F676, 2018.
     link

[J4] N. Wei and A. T. Layton. Theoretical assessment of the Ca2+ oscillations in the afferent arteriole smooth muscle cell of the rat kidney.
     International Journal of Biomathematics 11(3): 1850043, 2018.
     link

[J3] N. Wei. On certain optimization problems related to matrix norms.
     Optimization 65(10): 1791-1803, 2016.
     link

[J2] N. Wei, Y. Mori and E. G. Tolkacheva. The dual effect of ephaptic coupling on cardiac conduction with heterogeneous expression of connexin 43.
     Journal of Theoretical Biology 397: 103-114, 2016.
     link

[J1] N. Wei, Y. Mori and E. G. Tolkacheva. The role of short-term memory and conduction velocity restitution in alternans formation.
     Journal of Theoretical Biology 367: 21-28, 2015.
     link

    Book Chapter

    [B1] W. Strychalski, S. Bryant, B. Jadamba, E. Kilikian, X. Lai, L. Shahriyari, R. Segal, N. Wei and L. A. Miller.
     Fluid dynamics of nematocyst prey capture.
     In: Understanding Complex Biological Systems with Mathematics, Association for Women in Mathematics Series, Vol. 14,
     Springer, Cham, 123-144, 2018.
     link

    Submitted

    [S1] K. S. Lizama, F. J. Gonzalez-Gonzalez, N. Wei, A. Aboonabi, D. C. Johnson, H. Huang, A. Elgalad, M. Pasquali, E. G. Tolkacheva, M. Razavi, M. D. McCauley.
     Carbon nanotube fibers reduce scar-based reentrant arrhythmias. Submitted, 2026.

    Preprint

    [P1] L. Gracia, J. Madrigal, P. Ansoms, K. Norton, N. Wei, L. Geris, S. Waters and A. Carlier.
     Sex differences in bone fracture healing: numerical and mathematical analysis. Preprint, 2026.

    Grants

    [4] NSF DMS-2327184 (PI), Collaborative Research: The dual effect of ephaptic coupling on arrhythmogenesis in the heart, 2023-2026.
    link

[3] NSF DMS-2152115 (co-PI), GOALI: Merging Deep Learning and Mechanistic Modeling to Analyze the Electrophysiology of Circadian Clock Neurons, Aging, Cardiac Arrhythmias,
    and Alzheimer's Disease, 2022-2026.
    link

[2] Simons Foundation Travel Support for Mathematicians 855881 (PI), 2021-2026.

[1] AMS Simons Travel Grant, 2018-2020.

    Honors and Awards

    [2] Research Spotlight Interview, NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB), 2026.

[1] Collaborate@ICERM Program (PI), "Data-driven Predictive Modeling and Simulation with Lung Infections,"
    Jan. 6-10, 2025, Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM), Brown University.
    link

    Recent Talks

    
[33] Applied Mathematics Seminar, Department of Mathematics, Apr. 17, 2026, University of Cincinnati.

[32] Joint Mathematics Meetings, Jan. 4-7, 2026, Washington, DC.

[31] Applied Interdisciplinary Mathematics (AIM) Seminar, Oct. 17, 2025, Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan.

[30] Multiscale modeling of ocular and cardiovascular systems, Sep. 29-Oct. 3, 2025, American Institute of Mathematics, Pasadena, California.

[29] SIAM Great Lakes Section Annual Meeting, Sep. 27-28, 2025, Illinois Institute of Technology.

[28] NITMB MathBio Convergence Conference, Aug. 11-14, 2025, NSF-Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology.

[27] Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting, Jul. 13-18, 2025, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

[26] The Mathematics of Data, Dynamics, and Life Sciences Conference, Mar. 20-21, 2025, NSF-Simons Center For Multiscale Cell Fate, University of California, Irvine.

[25] Colloquium, Feb. 7, 2025, Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

[24] Biomath Seminar Series, Jan. 14, 2025, Department of Mathematics, North Carolina State University.

[23] Mathematical Modeling of Biological Interfacial Phenomena workshop, Dec. 9-13, 2024, Institute for Mathematical and Statistical Innovation.

[22] The Interdisciplinary Center for Quantitative Modeling in Biology (ICQMB) Seminar, Dec. 3, 2024, University of California Riverside.

[21] Bridge to Research Seminar, Dec. 2, 2024, Purdue University.

[20] Mathematical Bioscience workshop, Aug. 7-10, 2024, Penn State.

[19] Mathematical Biology Seminar, Department of Mathematics, Apr. 24, 2024, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

[18] Applied Mathematics Seminar, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Oct. 27, 2023, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

[17] Theoretical Biology Seminar, Department of Mathematics, Oct. 24, 2023, Penn State University.

[16] AMS Spring Central Sectional Meeting, Apr. 15-16, 2023, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.

[15] Applied Mathematics Seminar, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Nov. 29, 2022, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

[14] Colloquium, Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Mar. 18, 2022, Case Western Reserve University.

[13] Interdisciplinary Center for Quantitative Modeling in Biology (ICQMB) seminar, Mar. 9, 2021, UC Riverside.

[12] Bridge to Research Seminar, Nov. 23, 2020, Purdue University.

[11] First ephaptic coupling conference, May 5-7, 2019, Roanoke, Virginia.

[10] Applied Mathematics Seminar, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Oct. 26, 2018, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

[9] Applied Mathematics Seminar, Department of Mathematics, Oct. 18, 2018, Ohio State University.

[8] Applied Mathematics Seminar, Department of Mathematical Science, Sep. 21, 2018, University of Cincinnati.

[7] CCAM lunch seminar talk, Department of Mathematics, Apr. 6, 2018, Purdue University.

[6] SIAM conference on Applications of Dynamical Systems, May 21-25, 2017, Snowbird, Utah.

[5] Cardiopalooza VII Cardiovascular Retreat, Jul. 29, 2015, University of Minnesota.

[4] IMA Workshop on Mathematics of Biological Charge Transport: Molecules and Beyond, Jul. 20-24, 2015, University of Minnesota.

[3] Tolkacheva Lab Meeting, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Apr. 2013, University of Minnesota.

[2] Summer School on Representations of p-adic Groups and Constructions of Supercuspidal Representations, Jul. 2008, Morningside Center of Mathematics, Beijing, China.

[1] Seminar on Representations of p-adic Groups and Constructions of Supercuspidal Representations, Mar. 2008 - Jun. 2008, Morningside Center of Mathematics, Beijing, China.

    Service

    [10] Organize (with Daniel Cooney from UIUC) the Midwest Mathematical Biology Seminar, Sep. 2024 - present.

[9] Organize the minisymposium "Digital Twins in Cardiac Electrophysiology" (MS06), Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting,
    Jul. 13-18, 2025, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. link

[8] Biomolecular Design Committee at Purdue University, Apr. 2025 - present.

[7] Applied mathematics curriculum committee at Purdue University, 2024 - 2026.

[6] NSF panelist, 2024.

[5] Co-organize (with Wenrui Hao) the minisymposium "Intersection of cancer and cardiovascular modeling" (MS 42), SIAM Conference on Life Science,
    Jun. 10-13, 2024, Portland, Oregon. link

[4] Co-organize (with Casey Diekman) the minisymposium "Data assimilation and modeling of cardiac dynamics" (MS 27), SIAM New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania Section,
    Oct. 21-22, 2023, Newark, NJ. link

[3] Co-organize (with Alexandria Volkening) the special session "Mathematics of complex systems in biology" (SS 43A), AMS Spring Central Sectional Meeting,
    Mar. 26-27, 2022, West Lafayette, IN. link

[2] Guest Editor for Special Issues: Numerical Modeling in Cardiac Electrophysiology, Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 2020-2021.

[1] Organize (with Anita T. Layton) minisymposiums on Mathematical physiology and medicine I and II (MS160, MS173), SIAM conference on Applications of Dynamical Systems,
    May 21-25, 2017, Snowbird, Utah. link
  
    Last updated: Feb. 28, 2026