Biography

Dr. Panayotova is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Christopher Newport University. She earned a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 2005 and a Ph.D. in Computational Mathematics from the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus in 2000. She received her M.S. in Mathematics from Sofia University in Bulgaria in 1992. Before joining CNU in 2016, she served as a research scientist at Boston College, where her Air Force Research Laboratory–supported research focused on clear-air turbulence, and held faculty positions at Old Dominion University and Virginia Wesleyan College.

Dr. Panayotova’s current research focuses on mathematical modeling in the life sciences, particularly oncology and ecology. She uses ordinary and partial differential equations, dynamical systems, numerical simulation, and data-informed methods to investigate biologically and environmentally meaningful questions. Her oncology research includes tumor–immune interactions, oncolytic virotherapy, cancer invasion, and treatment response. Her ecological research examines population dynamics, species interactions, resilience, sustainable harvesting, and fisheries management in changing environments.

A central part of Dr. Panayotova’s work is involving undergraduate students in meaningful research. She mentors multiple student projects in mathematical oncology, ecology, epidemiology, climate change, and sustainable resource management. Students participate in model formulation, mathematical analysis, computational simulation, data interpretation, and the presentation and publication of their results. Her project-based approach helps students apply mathematical theory to address important questions in medicine, biology, and environmental science.

Dr. Panayotova has published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and is co-author of the Springer textbook Mathematical Modeling in Life Sciences: A Practical Project-Based Approach. She is also developing a second Springer book focused on ecological modeling and sustainable resource management. She serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the CODEE Journal and is an Affiliate Member of the NSF–Simons National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology. Her contributions to student mentorship and interdisciplinary scholarship have been recognized with the CNU Class of 2013 Alumni Mentorship Award and the CNU Faculty Award for Excellence in Interdisciplinarity.