Lisa Kranec ’28 received an award for undergraduate research in mathematical or computational biology at national mathematics conference.
Lisa Kranec ’28 was awarded the Janet L. Andersen Award for Undergraduate Research in Mathematical or Computational Biology at the 2026 Mathematical Association of America (MAA) MathFest, which was held in Boston from Aug. 5-8.
Kranec, an applied mathematics and biomedical engineering major, whose research focuses on using a mathematical model to better understand how the immune system responds during COVID-19 and how that response may contribute to heart damage. She developed a system of differential equations that describes the interactions between the virus, immune cells and cytokines in the heart. Kranec has conducted this research with Associate Professor of Mathematics Hwayeon Ryu.
Their goal is to better understand how immune dysregulation can lead to cardiac complications during infection.
“As an applied mathematics and biomedical engineering student, I’ve always been drawn to how mathematics can be applied in real-world health problems,” Kranec said. “COVID-19 really highlighted how complex the interactions between the immune system and an infection are, and I was super interested in how mathematical modeling could help to answer biological questions that might be different to experimentally study.”
This research project allows Kranec to combine her interests in mathematics, biology and medicine.
“Receiving this award is incredibly meaningful to me,” Kranec said. “It is a privilege to have my presentation recognized by other researchers and educators in the mathematical community. This award reflects not only the research itself, but the mentorship we received and the collaborative effort that went into this project. Being award this prize has given me more confidence in pursuing interdisciplinary research in the future.”
Her research poster was submitted as part of the MAA MathFest presentation session for undergraduate students. Kranec recalled being surprised and honored to receive the award at MathFest.
“I had seen many other impressive projects being presented at the conference, so I was grateful that the judges held my work in the same high esteem,” Kranec said. “It was a very rewarding and exciting moment.”
At the MAA MathFest conference, Kranec enjoyed the opportunity to explain her research on how mathematical models can be used to provide insights into complex biological systems and hearing questions and new perspectives from others.
Keopagnapech Ngoun ’26, James Felder ’27, and Andrew Pipeling ’29 also contributed to this project.
“Receiving this award was an honor, and although my research group members were not able to attend the conference, I am grateful to have represented our team’s research at the conference,” Kranec said.
Kranec attended the conference with Ryu through support from a National Science Foundation grant to fund Ryu’s research on COVID-19.
“As a mentor, there is nothing more rewarding than watching a student grow in confidence and begin to see herself as a researcher,” Ryu said. “Lisa has worked hard on her project, so seeing her research recognized at a national conference was a very proud moment for me. This award is a wonderful recognition of her curiosity, persistence and growth, but it also shows what undergraduates can accomplish when they are given meaningful opportunities to engage with research. This is just the beginning for Lisa, over the next two years, she will continue her interdisciplinary research through her Lumen project, Mathematical modeling of excessive collagen production in cardiac fibrosis, under the joint mentorship of Efrain Rivera-Serrano and I. I’m excited to see how she continues to grow as an interdisciplinary researcher.”
Ayesh Awad ’24 received this award at the 2024 MathFest conference.
Established in 2007, the Janet L. Andersen Award for Undergraduate Research in Mathematical or Computational Biology honors Janet Andersen, professor of mathematics, at Hope College.