CV/Statements

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Research Areas

I work at the intersection of applied mathematics and computational neuroscience, developing data-driven and mechanistic models of brain-wide neural and cerebrovascular dynamics. I integrate connectomics and spatial transcriptomics with large-scale simulation to investigate how network structure and neuronal dynamics shape collective brain activity. Building on my background in scientific computing and fluid-structure interaction, I study how neural activity couples to vascular signaling and blood flow to understand the mechanisms of physiological regulation in the brain.

Academic Appointments

• Courant Instructor/Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University (2025–present).

Education

• Ph.D., Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics, University of Michigan (August 2025).
  Advisers: Daniel B. Forger and Brendon Watson
• B.A., Mathematics with Honors, Minor in Physics, New York University (May 2019).

Publications and Preprints

1. Sun G, MacLachlan N, Forger DB. "Modeling Sensory-Evoked Cortical Waves with Data-Constrained Connectivity and Cellular Electrophysiology." Manuscript under review at Communications Biology, 2026.
2. Sun G, Tomoyuki M, Kompotis K, Wang N, Shi S, Brown S, Forger DB. "A Framework to Determine Active Connectivity within the Mouse Brain." PLoS Biology, 2025.
3. Sun G, Hazelden J, Kim R, Forger DB. "Realistic coupling enables flexible macroscopic traveling waves in the mouse cortex." eLife, 2025.
4. ElGrawani W, Sun G, ..., Brown S, Forger DB. "BDNF-TrkB signaling orchestrates the buildup process for local sleep." Cell Reports, 2024.
5. Nguyen QM, Oza AU, Abouezzi J, Sun G, Childress S, Ristroph L. "Flow Rectification in Loopy Network Models of Bird Lungs." Physical Review Letters, 2021.
6. Sanaei P, Sun G, Li H, Peskin CS, Ristroph L. "Flight Stability of Wedges." Journal of Fluids and Structures, 2021.

Talks and Posters

1. "Simulation of projection-based connectome reproduces cortical responses to different sensory stimuli", Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, US, Oct 2024.
2. "Spatiotemporal patterns in large-scale cortical simulations", Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York, US, Apr 2024.
3. "How a pencil rolls down a slope?", Math Club, Ann Arbor, US, Feb 2024.
4. "NeuroWiz — A platform for large-scale neuronal simulation", Nanosymposium, Society for Neuroscience, Washington DC, US, Nov 2023.
5. "Spontaneous Sleep Wake Transition Induced by Synaptic Weight Dynamics", Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York, US, May 2023.
6. "Spontaneous Sleep Wake Transition Induced by Synaptic Weight Dynamics", Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, US, Nov 2022.
7. "Flip a Biased Coin", Math Club, Ann Arbor, US, Sep 2022.
8. "Spontaneous Sleep Wake Transition Induced by Synaptic Weight Dynamics", European Biological Rhythms Society, Zurich, CH, Aug 2022.
9. "Why do we sleep: three sleeping hypothesis", MCAIM Graduate Seminar, Ann Arbor, US, Oct 2021.
10. "The Cheerios Effect", Math Club, Ann Arbor, US, Sep 2021.

Awards

• Cameron & Jon Courtney Scholarship, Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan (2023–2024).
• MCAIM Award, University of Michigan (2022–2023).
• EBRS Poster Award, European Biological Rhythms Society (2022).
• Mathematics Award, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (2019).
• Dean's Undergraduate Research Funds, College of Arts and Science, New York University (2017–2018).
• Presidential Honors Scholar, College of Arts and Sciences, New York University (2015–2016).

Teaching Experience

• Instructor, Intro to Math Modeling (2026 Spring, NYU).
• Instructor, Numerical Analysis (2025 Fall, NYU).
• Instructor, Calculus I (2025 Spring, University of Michigan).
• Instructor, Eight Lectures in Applied Math (2024 Summer, Veritas Academy).
• Lab Instructor, Introduction to Differential Equations (2024 Winter, University of Michigan).
• Instructor, Intro to Applied Math (2021 Summer, Veritas Workshop).
• Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Computer Simulation (2020 Spring, NYU).
• Teaching Assistant, Special Topics in Modeling and Simulation (2019 Fall, NYU).
• Grader, Calculus I (2018 Fall, NYU).

Organization

Seminars

• Coordinator, Computational Neuroscience Seminar, Courant Institute (2025–).
• Co-organizer, MCAIM Graduate Seminar, University of Michigan, with Jiajia Guo and Shirlyn Wang (2022–2023).
• Co-organizer, Student Applied Math Seminar, University of Michigan, with Kashvi Srivastava, Preetham Mohan, and C. Mavroyiakoumou (2021–2023).

Professional

• Co-founder and President, Veritas China (2015–).
  Student-run nonprofit organization promoting liberal arts education in China.