Teaching
BIO522 Stochastic Processes with Applications to Biology and Medicine
Winter Session 2013 (Room FXB G03 - MWF 9:00-11:00AM)
Description
An introduction to the basic theory of stochastic processes and to some biological applications. The course will be accessible to students in mathematics, statistics, and computer science but also in biology or medicine (e.g. cell biologists, molecular biologists).
From a theoretical point of view we will consider, for simplicity, only discrete-state stochastic processes, known as Markov Chains. The transition probabilities, the Chapman-Kolmogorov equations, the Kolmogorov differential equations, the stationary distribution of a Markov Chain, and branching processes will be among the topics covered. Biological applications will be from the areas of genetics, population dynamics, cell biology, epidemiology, cancer genomics and drug resistance.
Prerequisites:
BIO230 (Probability Theory 1). Alternatively, students having taken BIO222, or with a background in basic probability and calculus, may take the course with the instructor’s approval.