Professor Ivana Bozic receives the 2023 Akira Okubo Prize

Congratulations to Professor Ivana Bozic who is the 2023 recipient of the Akira Okubo Prize, awarded jointly by the Society for Mathematical Biology and the Japanese Society for Mathematical Biology,

Every two years the Awards Committee of the two Societies selects a member of the mathematical biology community to receive the Akira Okubo Prize. The Akira Okubo Fund was established in memory of Akira Okubo, who made major contributions to many fields, including mathematical ecology and oceanography. Okubo was widely recognized for his scientific work, as well as for his exceptional humanity. The award has two versions, junior and established/senior scientists, each given every four years. In the junior version, the Akira Okubo Prize honors a junior living scientist for outstanding and innovative theoretical work, for establishing superb conceptual ideas, for solving tough theoretical problems, and/or for uniting theory and data to advance a biological subject. In the established scientist version, the Akira Okubo Prize honors a senior living scientist for outstanding and innovative theoretical work, for establishing superb conceptual ideas, for solving tough theoretical problems, and/or for uniting theory and data to advance a biological subject.

The following criteria are used for ranking nominations and selecting the award winner: originality (discovering a new theory and opening a new research direction), breakthrough (solving outstanding problems in the field), new synthesis (leading to a new research area), and impact already made, or expected, on subsequent studies.

In 2023, the Akira Okubo Prize honors a junior living scientist for outstanding and innovative theoretical work, for establishing superb conceptual ideas, for solving tough theoretical problems, and/or for uniting theory and data to advance a biological subject.

Professor Bozic is being honored for her significant contributions in mathematical modeling of cancer evolution and her groundbreaking approach in synthesis of theory and data and its impact in the fields of mathematical biology and cancer research.  As Okubo Prize winner, Prof. Bozic will give a talk at the joint meeting of the Society for Mathematical Biology and Japanese Society for Mathematical Biology, the Society for Mathematical Biology, or the Japanese Society for Mathematical Biology annual meetings.

She joins Prof. Jim Murray (2005) as the second UW Applied Mathematics winner of the award.