John S. Lowengrub
Biography
John S. Lowengrub, Ph.D., is Chancellor's Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. He also serves as Associate Dean for Research in the School of Physical Sciences and as Founding Director of the Mathematical, Computational and Systems Biology Graduate Program. Lowengrub received his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, where he studied the convergence of the vortex method for vortex sheets under the direction of Russel Caflisch.
Lowengrub's research focuses on applied and numerical analysis of free boundary problems, with applications spanning multicomponent fluid flows, phase transformations in materials, and tumor modeling. He has developed mathematical and computational frameworks for understanding cancer growth and treatment, including multiscale models that bridge cellular and tissue-level dynamics. His work integrates mathematical modeling with experimental biology to address questions in morphogenesis, tissue engineering, and cancer systems biology. Lowengrub has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications and co-authored the book "Multiscale Modeling of Cancer: An integrated experimental and mathematical modeling approach" with Vittorio Cristini.
Lowengrub is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and received the Julian Cole Lectureship from the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. He serves as Co-Leader of the Systems, Pathways and Targets Program at the UCI Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and is Associate Director of the NSF-SIMONS Center for Multiscale Cell Fate Research. He has mentored 38 Ph.D. students as primary advisor, 35 undergraduate researchers, and 31 postdoctoral scholars. His research has been continuously supported by the National Science Foundation since 1994 and by the National Institutes of Health through multiple grants including program project grants and center grants.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, 1988
- B.A. in Mathematics, Cornell University, 1985
Distinctions
- Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2019
- Julian Cole Lectureship, Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics, 2014
- Francois Frenkiel Award, American Physical Society, Fluid Dynamics Division, 1998
- NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1990-1993
- Chancellor's Professor, University of California, Irvine, 2009
- Sloan Foundation Fellowship, 1995-1997
- Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Fostering Undergraduate Research, UC Irvine, 2008
- Distinguished Mid-Career Faculty Award for Research, UC Irvine, 2008
- McKnight Foundation Professorship, University of Minnesota, 1994-1996
Areas of Expertise
- Mathematical Biology
- Tumor Growth Modeling
- Phase Field Methods
- Interfacial Fluid Dynamics
- Cancer Systems Biology
- Multiscale Computational Modeling
- Biomembrane Vesicle Mechanics
Recent Publications
- Zhang R.Z., Miles C.E., Xie X., Lowengrub J.S., “BiLO: Bilevel Local Operator Learning for PDE Inverse Problems” (opens in new tab), Journal of Computational Physics, vol. 551, 2026.
- Liu K., Xiao W., Lowengrub J., Li S., Zhao M., “Wrinkling dynamics accelerate due to sudden changes in boundary conditions” (opens in new tab), Physical Review E, vol. 113, 2026.
- Zhang, R.Z., Ezhov, I., Balcerak, M., Zhu, A., Wiestler, B., Menze, B., Lowengrub, J.S., “Personalized predictions of Glioblastoma infiltration: Mathematical models, Physics-Informed Neural Networks and multimodal scans” (opens in new tab), Medical Image Analysis, vol. 101, pp. 103423, 2025.
- Olaranont N., Wei C., Lowengrub J., Wu M., “Chemomechanical regulation of growing tissues from a thermodynamically-consistent framework and its application to tumor spheroid growth” (opens in new tab), Journal of Mathematical Biology, vol. 91, 2025.
- Chen, J., Holt, J.R., Evans, E.L., Lowengrub, J.S., Pathak, M.M., “PIEZO1 regulates leader cell formation and cellular coordination during collective keratinocyte migration” (opens in new tab), Plos Computational Biology, vol. 20, pp. e1011855, 2024.
- Zhao, M., Barua, A.K., Lowengrub, J.S., Ying, W., Li, S., “A three-layer Hele-Shaw problem driven by a sink” (opens in new tab), Journal of Fluid Mechanics, vol. 998, pp. A35, 2024.
- Xiao, W., Liu, K., Lowengrub, J., Li, S., Zhao, M., “Three-dimensional numerical study on wrinkling of vesicles in elongation flow based on the immersed boundary method” (opens in new tab), Physical Review E, vol. 107, pp. 035103, 2023.
- Tang, X., Li, S., Lowengrub, J.S., Wise, S.M., “Phase field modeling and computation of vesicle growth or shrinkage” (opens in new tab), Journal of Mathematical Biology, vol. 86, pp. 97, 2023.
- Zhao M., Anjos P., Lowengrub J., Ying W., Li S., “Numerical Study on Viscous Fingering Using Electric Fields in a Hele-Shaw Cell” (opens in new tab), Communications in Computational Physics, vol. 33, pp. 399-424, 2023.
- Guo, Z.L., Cheng, Q., Lin, P., Liu, C., Lowengrub, J., “Second order approximation for a quasi-incompressible Navier-Stokes Cahn-Hilliard system of two-phase flows with variable density” (opens in new tab), Journal of Computational Physics, vol. 448, 2022.
- Zheng, X.M., Zhao, K., Jackson, T., Lowengrub, J., “Tumor growth towards lower extracellular matrix conductivity regions under Darcy's Law and steady morphology” (opens in new tab), Journal of Mathematical Biology, vol. 85, 2022.
- Uhl, P., Lowengrub, J., Komarova, N., Wodarz, D., “Spatial dynamics of feedback and feedforward regulation in cell lineages” (opens in new tab), Plos Computational Biology, vol. 18, 2022.
- Lu, M.J., Hao, W.R., Liu, C., Lowengrub, J., Li, S.W., “Nonlinear simulation of vascular tumor growth with chemotaxis and the control of necrosis” (opens in new tab), Journal of Computational Physics, vol. 459, 2022.
- Lipkova, J., Menze, B., Wiestler, B., Koumoutsakos, P., Lowengrub, J.S., “Modelling glioma progression, mass effect and intracranial pressure in patient anatomy” (opens in new tab), Journal of the Royal Society Interface, vol. 19, 2022.
- Miller, H.A., Lowengrub, J., Frieboes, H.B., “Modeling of Tumor Growth with Input from Patient-Specific Metabolomic Data” (opens in new tab), Annals of Biomedical Engineering, vol. 50, pp. 314-329, 2022.
- Anjos, P.H.A., Zhao, M., Lowengrub, J., Li, S.W., “Electrically controlled self-similar evolution of viscous fingering patterns” (opens in new tab), Physical Review Fluids, vol. 7, 2022.
- Guo, Z.L., Yu, F., Lin, P., Wise, S., Lowengrub, J., “A diffuse domain method for two-phase flows with large density ratio in complex geometries” (opens in new tab), Journal of Fluid Mechanics, vol. 907, 2021.
- Weiss, L.D., van den Driessche, P., Lowengrub, J.S., Wodarz, D., Komarova, N.L., “Effect of feedback regulation on stem cell fractions in tissues and tumors: Understanding chemoresistance in cancer” (opens in new tab), Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 509, 2021.
- Zhao, M., Niroobakhsh, Z., Lowengrub, J., Li, S.W., “Nonlinear limiting dynamics of a shrinking interface in a Hele-Shaw cell” (opens in new tab), Journal of Fluid Mechanics, vol. 910, 2021.
- Anjos, P.H.A., Zhao, M., Lowengrub, J., Bao, W.Z., Li, S.W., “Controlling fingering instabilities in Hele-Shaw flows in the presence of wetting film effects” (opens in new tab), Physical Review E, vol. 103, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Lowengrub, J., Truskinovsky, L., “Quasi-incompressible Cahn-Hilliard fluids and topological transitions” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the Royal Society a-Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 454, pp. 2617-2654, 1998.
- Lowengrub, J.S., Frieboes, H.B., Jin, F., Chuang, Y.L., Li, X., Macklin, P., Wise, S.M., Cristini, V., “Nonlinear modelling of cancer: bridging the gap between cells and tumours” (opens in new tab), Nonlinearity, vol. 23, pp. R1-R91, 2010.
- Hou, T.Y., Lowengrub, J.S., Shelley, M.J., “Removing the Stiffness from Interfacial Flow with Surface-Tension” (opens in new tab), Journal of Computational Physics, vol. 114, pp. 312-338, 1994.
- Wise, S.M., Lowengrub, J.S., Frieboes, H.B., Cristini, V., “Three-dimensional multispecies nonlinear tumor growth - I - Model and numerical method” (opens in new tab), Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 253, pp. 524-543, 2008.
- Macklin, P., McDougall, S., Anderson, A.R.A., Chaplain, M.A.J., Cristini, V., Lowengrub, J., “Multiscale modelling and nonlinear simulation of vascular tumour growth” (opens in new tab), Journal of Mathematical Biology, vol. 58, pp. 765-798, 2009.
- Wise, S.M., Wang, C., Lowengrub, J.S., “An Energy-Stable and Convergent Finite-Difference Scheme for the Phase Field Crystal Equation” (opens in new tab), Siam Journal on Numerical Analysis, vol. 47, pp. 2269-2288, 2009.
- Cristini, V., Lowengrub, J., “Multiscale Modeling of Cancer: An integrated experimental and mathematical modeling approach” (opens in new tab), Multiscale Modeling of Cancer an Integrated Experimental and Mathematical Modeling Approach, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9780521884426, pp. 1-278, 2010.
- Kim, J., Kang, K.K., Lowengrub, J., “Conservative multigrid methods for Cahn-Hilliard fluids” (opens in new tab), Journal of Computational Physics, vol. 193, pp. 511-543, 2004.
- Cristini, V., Lowengrub, J., Nie, Q., “Nonlinear simulation of tumor growth” (opens in new tab), Journal of Mathematical Biology, vol. 46, pp. 191-224, 2003.
- Cristini, V., Li, X.R., Lowengrub, J.S., Wise, S.M., “Nonlinear simulations of solid tumor growth using a mixture model: invasion and branching” (opens in new tab), Journal of Mathematical Biology, vol. 58, pp. 723-763, 2009.
Contact Information
Website: https://www.math.uci.edu/~lowengrb
Email: jlowengr@uci.edu
Address: 540A Rowland Hall, Irvine, CA 92697-3875
Return to topThis profile was created with the help of AI.
Last updated on 3/7/2026.