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| Photo: Cammey Cole Manning |
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| Photo: Meredith College News |
During the 57th installment of the lecture series, Manning explored how mathematical modeling could be used in determining the dosing of antibiotics. In particular, she looked at whether the same dose of the antibiotic ertapenem should be given to everyone.
She opened her talk with a visual of how things might appear the same, but in reality, they differ in many ways, showing the importance of truly defining a problem before developing the model. Manning had three students demonstrate filling jars of various sizes with the same number of M&M’s, showing that the same number and type of M&M’s will fill each jar differently.
“Defining the size of the jar is a really important part of the process. For problems such as this one, it is important to know the size of the jar we are talking about, what type of M&M’s we are using, and what is meant by filling the jar. This is all part of defining the problem and making assumptions.”
A type of mathematical model, known as a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model, was used to answer the question of whether everyone should receive the same dose of antibiotics.
Manning studied the distribution of the antibiotic, ertapenem, in men and women with varying body mass indexes (BMI), following a typical dose, which was based on a normal weight, normal height male...
About Cammey Cole Manning
Cammey Cole Manning is a professor of mathematics and head of Meredith’s Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. She has been actively involved with the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), and the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI), particularly in mentoring and planning professional development programs and workshops for undergraduates, graduate students, and early-career individuals. She continues to be active in research, most recently publishing in the Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering journal.
Manning earned her B.S. in mathematics and computer science at Duke University and completed her Ph.D. in applied mathematics with a concentration in computational mathematics at North Carolina State University.
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Source: Meredith College News
