Mathematical Biology

Mathematical Biology is the application of mathematical modelling to solve problems in biology and physiology. It is one of the fastest growing research areas in mathematics and is contributing significantly to our understanding of the biological world. It also produces new mathematical questions.

The Mathematical Biology Group is a member of the Centre for Mathematics Applied to the Life Sciences, established to promote interdisciplinary research and scholarship in Mathematical Biology. It is a joint centre of the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde, under the Synergy agreement. Our research interests are summarised here, but the list is not exhaustive and new projects are being started all the time. For more information and contact details, click on the links below.

Staff

Dr Christina A Cobbold : Reader

Population dynamics of ecological systems; spatial ecology; evolutionary ecology in changing environments

Member of other research groups: Statistics and Data Analytics
Research student: Renato Andrade

  • Personal Website
  • Publications

    • Dr Liuyang Feng : Research Associate

    Supervisor: Xiaoyu Luo

    • Dr Hao Gao : Postdoctoral Research Fellow

    Heart Modelling; biomechancis; MRI; fluid-structure interactions

    Research staff: Debao Guan
    Research students: Yingjie Wang, Yalei Yang, Antesar Mohammed Al Dawoud
    Supervisor: Xiaoyu Luo

  • Publications

    • Dr Debao Guan : Research Associate

    Supervisors: Xiaoyu Luo, Hao Gao

    • Prof Nicholas A Hill : Simson Chair

    Random walk models for movement of micro-organisms and animals; spatial point processes in plant ecology

    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Modelling and Analysis of Material Systems, Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics
    Research staff: Jay MacKenzie, Scott Richardson
    Research students: Andrew Brown, Sathish Kumar, Roxanna Barry, Laura Miller
    Postgraduate opportunities: A coupled cardiovascular-respiration model for mechanical ventilation

  • Personal Website
  • Publications

    • Prof Xiaoyu Luo : Professor of Applied Mathematics

    Biomechanics; fluid-structure interactions; mathematical biology ; solid mechanics

    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Modelling and Analysis of Material Systems, Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics
    Research staff: Liuyang Feng, Hao Gao, Debao Guan, Wenguang Li, Qingying Shu, Xin Zhuan, Jay MacKenzie
    Research students: Ahmed Mostafa Abdelhady Ismaeel, Yingjie Wang

  • Personal Website
  • Publications

    • Dr Benn Macdonald : Research Assistant

    Member of other research groups: Statistics and Data Analytics
    Research student: Hanadi Alzahrani
    Supervisor: Dirk Husmeier

    • Mx Jay MacKenzie : Research Associate

    Supervisors: Nicholas A Hill, Xiaoyu Luo

    • Dr Peter Mortensen : Research Associate

    Supervisor: Radostin Simitev

    • Prof Nigel Mottram : Professor of Applied Mathematics

    My research interests are in the mathematical modelling of real-world systems, generally focussing on those that include the dynamics of non-Newtonian fluids. I am particularly interested in anisotropic fluids such as liquid crystals, where viscoelasticity is an important consideration, as is their behaviour under electric fields.

    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Modelling and Analysis of Material Systems, Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics
    Research student: Parna Mandal
    Postgraduate opportunities: Multiscale modelling of liquid crystal-filled porous media

    • Dr Raimondo Penta : Lecturer

    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Modelling and Analysis of Material Systems, Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics
    Research students: Tahani Al Sariri, Laura Miller, Andrew Brown
    Postgraduate opportunities: Multiscale modelling of liquid crystal-filled porous media

  • Personal Website
  • Publications

    • Dr Ariel Ramirez Torres : Lecturer

    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Modelling and Analysis of Material Systems, Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics

    • Dr Scott Richardson : Research Associate

    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics
    Supervisors: Andrew Baggaley, Nicholas A Hill

    • Prof Radostin Simitev : Professor of Applied Mathematics

    Reaction-diffusion equations; Excitable systems; Mathematical models of cardiac electrical excitation

    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics
    Research staff: Peter Mortensen
    Research students: Muhamad Bin Noor Aziz, Parag Gupta, Antesar Mohammed Al Dawoud, Tahani Al Sariri, Jamie Quinn
    Postgraduate opportunities: Observationally-constrained 3D convective spherical models of the solar dynamo (Solar MHD), Fast-slow asymptotic analysis of cardiac excitation models, Numerical simulations of planetary and stellar dynamos

  • Personal Website
  • Publications

    • Dr Peter Stewart : Senior lecturer

    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Modelling and Analysis of Material Systems, Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics
    Research students: Roxanna Barry, Ahmed Mostafa Abdelhady Ismaeel, Gordon McNicol, Ifeanyi Onah Sunday
    Postgraduate opportunities: Mathematical models of vasculogenesis, A coupled cardiovascular-respiration model for mechanical ventilation , Radial foam fracture, Continuous production of solid metal foams

  • Personal Website
  • Publications

    • Dr Ben Swallow : Lecturer

    Bayesian statistical inference; Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods; data integration; model selection; stochastic processes

    Member of other research groups: Statistics and Data Analytics
    Research students: Stephen Jun Villejo, Chenglei Hu

  • Personal Website

    • Dr Xin Zhuan : Research Associate

    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Modelling and Analysis of Material Systems
    Supervisor: Xiaoyu Luo


    • Postgraduates

    Tahani Al Sariri : PhD Student

    Supervisors: Raimondo Penta, Radostin Simitev

    • Roxanna Barry : PhD Student

    Supervisors: Peter Stewart, Nicholas A Hill

    • Muhamad Bin Noor Aziz : PhD Student

    Supervisor: Radostin Simitev

    • Andrew Brown : PhD Student

    Research Topic: Multiscale Modelling of Tissue Tearing
    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics
    Supervisors: Nicholas A Hill, Raimondo Penta, Steven Roper

    • Ahmed Mostafa Abdelhady Ismaeel : PhD Student

    Supervisors: Peter Stewart, Xiaoyu Luo

    • Sathish Kumar : PhD Student

    Research Topic: Optimisation of stent devices to treat dissected aorta
    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics
    Supervisor: Nicholas A Hill

    • Mikolaj Kundegorski : PhD Student

    Supervisor: Colin Torney

    • Gordon McNicol : PhD Student

    Research Topic: A mathematical model for nanokicking
    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics
    Supervisor: Peter Stewart

    • Laura Miller : PhD Student

    Member of other research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Modelling and Analysis of Material Systems
    Supervisors: Raimondo Penta, Nicholas A Hill

    • Antesar Mohammed Al Dawoud : PhD Student

    Research Topic: Mathematical modelling of electrophysiology in hearts with healed myocardial infarction scar
    Supervisors: Radostin Simitev, Hao Gao

    • Ionut Paun : PhD Student

    Supervisors: Colin Torney, Dirk Husmeier


    • Postgraduate opportunities

    Fast-slow asymptotic analysis of cardiac excitation models (PhD)

    Supervisors: Radostin Simitev
    Relevant research groups: Mathematical Biology

    Mathematical models of cardiac electrical excitation describe processess ocurring on a wide range of time and length scales. 

     

     

    Mathematical models of vasculogenesis (PhD)

    Supervisors: Peter Stewart
    Relevant research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics, Continuum Mechanics - Modelling and Analysis of Material Systems, Mathematical Biology

    Vasculogenesis is the process of forming new blood vessels from endothelial cells, which occurs during embryonic development. Viable blood vessels facilitate tissue perfusion, allowing the tissue to grow beyond the diffusion-limited size. However, in the absence of vasculogenesis, efforts to engineer functional tissues (eg for implantation) are restricted to this diffusion-limited size. This project will investigate mathematical models for vasculogenesis and explore mechanisms to stimulate blood vessel formation for in vitro tissues. The project will involve collaboration with Department of Biological Engineering at MIT, as part of the SofTMechMP project.

     

    A coupled cardiovascular-respiration model for mechanical ventilation (PhD)

    Supervisors: Peter Stewart, Nicholas A Hill
    Relevant research groups: Continuum Mechanics - Fluid Dynamics and Magnetohydrodynamics, Mathematical Biology

    Mechanical ventilation is a clinical treatment used to draw air into the lungs to facilitate breathing, used in treatment of premature babies with respiratory distress syndrome and in the treatment of severe Covid pneumonia. The aim is to oxygenate the blood while simultaneously removing unwanted by-products. However, over-inflation of the lungs can reduce the blood supply to the gas exchange surfaces, leading to a ventilation-perfusion mis-match. This PhD project will give you the opportunity to develop a mathematical model to describe the coupling between blood flow in the pulmonary circulation and air flow in the lungs (during both inspiration and expiration). You will devise a coupled computational framework, capable of testing patient-specific ventilation protocols. This is an ideal project for a postgraduate student with an interest in applying mathematical modelling and image analysis to predictive healthcare. The project will give you the opportunity to join a cross-disciplinary Research Hub that aims to push the boundaries of quantitative medicine and improve clinical decision making using innovative mathematical and statistical modelling.

     


    Host-parsitoid coinvasion

    Integrodifference models of host-parasitoid interactions give rise to a wide range of travelling wave dynamics

    Integrodifference models of host-parasitoid interactions give rise to a wide range of travelling wave dynamics

    Mountain pine beetle attack

    In collaboration with entomologists we are using mathematical models to give insight into mountain pine beetle adaptation to changing temperatures

    In collaboration with entomologists we are using mathematical models to give insight into mountain pine beetle adaptation to changing temperatures

    Intrinsic dynamics of a cardiac excitation model

    The electrical properties of the cardiac myocytes are described by multi-component reaction-diffusion equations

    The electrical properties of the cardiac myocytes are described by multi-component reaction-diffusion equations

    Modelling of slub biocontrol

    Models of the dynamics of agricultural pests can help optimize their biocontrol

    Models of the dynamics of agricultural pests can help optimize their biocontrol

    Bioconvection patterns

    Bioconvection patterns, as seen from above, due to hydrodynamic instabilities induced by the biased swimming motion of many negatively buoyant unicellular green algae

    Bioconvection patterns, as seen from above, due to hydrodynamic instabilities induced by the biased swimming motion of many negatively buoyant unicellular green algae

    Modelling the mitrial valve

    A human mitral valve model based on MRI, modelled with the Finite Element-Imersed Boundary method

    A human mitral valve model based on MRI, modelled with the Finite Element-Imersed Boundary method