Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences, NJIT
Graduate Faculty, Federated Dept of Biological Sciences (Rutgers-Newark/NJIT)
Ph.D., SUNY Stony Brook (1996)

Department of Mathematical Sciences
New Jersey Institute of Technology
University Heights
Newark, NJ 07102-1982

 Office: Cullimore Hall, Room 616
tel: (973)596-5619
fax: (973)596-5591
m a t v e e v @ n j i t . e d u

Research

My research spans the interdiciplinary fields of mathematical biology, cell biophysics and computational neuroscience. The main focus of my work is on mathematical and computational modeling of the mechanisms of synaptic neurotransmitter release. I am also studying the activity-dependent changes in synaptic strength called short-term synaptic plasticity, as well as the impact of such short-term synaptic dynamics on the activity and information-processing properties of neuronal networks. Related to this endeavor is the study of the intracellular calcium ion diffusion, necessary for the understanding of synaptic function and plasticity mechanisms, as well as a wealth of other important cell processes. I am especially interested in the role that the endogenous calcium buffers (intracellular molecules that bind calcium) play in regulating cell calcium signals in general, and synaptic transmission in particular. Finally, I study the impact of synaptic properties on the behavior of synaptically coupled neuronal circuits, exploring for instance network synchronization and network bursting.

Calcium Calculator Modeling Software

To study quantitatively the dynamics of calcium diffusion and buffering in the synaptic terminal, I develop a modeling program called CalC ("Calcium Calculator"). Here you will find links to the CalC download page, the CalC manual, the database of CalC simulation scripts, and a complete list of peer-reviewed publications that relied on simulation data produced using CalC.

• CalC version x.8.0 adds arbitrary piece-wise smooth boundaries
• CalC version x.8.4 improves adaptive time-step control
• CalC version x.9.1 important bug fix!
• CalC version x.9.7 allows membrane buffers targeted to specific volumes or obstacles
• CalC version x.10.1 allow cross-platform plots via freeglut OpenGL library.
• CalC version x.10.7 allows 2nd surface Ca2+ flux to implement both NCX & PMCA Ca2+ extrusion.

Currently teaching

Spring 2024:Math 331-002 Introduction to PDEs
Spring 2024:Math 614-002 Numerical Methods I