Nicole Bruce | Graduate Student
Contact
Overview
Hi! I am a 5th year PhD student in the Department of Mathematics at Florida State University. My research area is biomathematics, with an interest in mathematical modeling and data science. The main work of my dissertation has been on modeling the synchronization of pancreatic islets. Over the last year, I have been involved in a data analysis internship with Austere environments Consortium for Enhanced Sepsis Outcomes (ACESO) with the Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine. I have also been involved in smaller projects throughout my PhD, some of which are outlined below.
Research
- Synchronization of Pancreatic Islets
Pancreatic islets are regions of the pancreas that contain insulin secreting cells. How pancreatic islets synchronize their insulin release could potentially play an important role in insulin disorders such as Type 2 Diabetes. We use delay differential equation models to investigate mechanisms of islet synchronization. We also collaborate with experimentalists to predict and guide in vitro experiments. - Multi-omics Integration for Biomarker Discovery of Sepsis Outcome
Sepsis is a life threatening condition that occurs when your body has an extreme reaction to an infection. ACESO conducts observational sepsis studies in resource-limited environments. We analyze multi-omics data sets along with clinical data to search for biomarkers of sepsis survival. One technique is to integrate transcriptomic data with metabolomic data to find dysregulated pathways in sepsis in the hope of identifying areas to target treatment. - Targeting Adaptations to Hyperglycemia in Pancreatic Islets
Before Type 2 Diabetes ensues, pancreatic islets undergo functional changes to compensate for increasing insulin resistance. Various drugs can target steps in the insulin secretion pathway to identify the processes that play a causal role in islet failure. We use an ordinary differential equation model to simulate the effects of inhibitory chemicals used in in vitro islet experiments and investigate their downstream effects.
Publications
- N. Bruce, I.-A. Wei, Y. Oh, Y.-C Chiu, M.G. Roper, R. Bertram, Coordination of pancreatic islet rhythmic activity by delayed negative feedback, Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab., 323, pp. 1500-1607, 2016.
Presentations
- Modeling the synchronization of pancreatic islets
Florida State University Biomathematics Seminar Presentation, Tallahassee, FL, 2024 - Investigating the bistability in coordinated oscillations of pancreatic islets
Joint Mathematics Meeting Special Session Presentation, San Francisco, CA, 2024 - Metabolomics biomarker discovery and mortality prediction in sepsis in resource-constrained settings
Metabolomics Association of North America Oral Presentation, Columbia, MO, 2023 - Metabolomics biomarker discovery and mortality prediction in sepsis in resource-constrained settings
Metabolomics Association of North America Poster Presentation, Columbia, MO, 2023 - A reduced model for the synchronization of oscillations in pancreatic islets
Society for Mathematical Biology Annual Meeting Poster Presentation, Columbus, OH, 2023
Teaching
- MAC1140 (Precalculus) - Solo instructor
- MAC2233 (Business Calculus) - Lead graduate teaching assistant
- MAC2233 (Business Calculus), MGF1107 (Mathematics for Liberal Arts II), MAC1114 (Trigonometry) - Monitored computer assisted learning labs.
- Online course developer - Assisted instructors in the switch to online course delivery during COVID-19
Service
- Journal Club Seminar Webmaster, 2023-present
- Grad Student Council Member, 2022-present
- Math Fun Day Coordinator, 2023-2024
- Directed Reading Program Research Mentor, 2022-2023
- Grad Student Council Co-Chair, 2022-2023
- Association for Women in Mathematics Student Chapter President, 2021-2023
- Association for Women in Mathematics Mentor, 2019-2021
Honors and Awards
- Clara Kibler Davis Scholarship Recipient, 2019, 2021-2024
- Joint Mathematics Meetings Graduate Student Travel Grant Recipient, 2024
- Metabolomics Association of North America Early Career Members Travel Grant Recipient, 2023
- Dean's Award for Doctoral Excellence, 2023
- SIAM Student Travel Award Recipient, 2022
- Bettye Anne Busbee Case Graduate Fellowship Recipient, 2022
- Bettina Zoeller Richmond Endowed Fund Recipient, 2022
- Office of Distance Learning Teaching Assistant Grant Recipient, 2020
- President's List, Florida State University, 2016-2019
- University Freshman Scholarship, Florida State University, 2015
Affiliations
- Metabolomics Association of North America, 2023-present
- Association for Women in Mathematics, 2019-present
- American Mathematical Society, 2019-present
- Society for Mathematical Biology, 2023-present
- Society for Industrial an Applied Mathematics, 2022-present
