Greg Conradi Smith

I am a professor in the Department of Applied Science at William & Mary and a lifelong student of mathematical aspects of life sciences, especially neuroscience and cell biology.

My work uses mathematical and computational models to connect cellular mechanisms with experimentally observed biological function, especially in calcium signaling, excitable cells, and computational neuroscience. I often collaborate closely with physiologists to build models of experimental preparations, use those models to make explicit predictions, and test those predictions against future experiment.

The Computational Biology Laboratory is currently interested in receptor oligomers and allostery, respiratory rhythm generation, liquid-liquid phase separation in cellular organization, and mathematical approaches to pattern formation. Past projects include calcium sparks and waves, population-density methods in neuroscience, and models of thalamocortical relay.

Prospective students should start with the research overview and the Computational Biology Lab repository. Visitors looking for a concise scholarly record can browse selected publications or download my CV.

I also write and teach about science as part of the liberal arts. A recent William & Mary story, Innovating research and education: W&M professor and students address issues of science and society, gives some context for that broader work.

“So I am against all big organizations as such, national ones first and foremost; against all big successes and big results; and in favor of the eternal forces of truth which always work in the individual and immediately unsuccessful way, under-dogs always, till history comes, long after they are dead, and puts them on the top.”

William James, letter to Mrs. Henry Whitman, June 7, 1899