Biography

I am a post-doctoral researcher specialising in mathematical modelling and the physics of soft and biological matter.

In November 2017 I started an MRC-funded fellowship working on mathematical modelling of ventilation and transport in the human lungs. In particular, I am interested in using models to gain greater insight into the early progression of Cystic Fibrosis from lung function tests, and thereby improve early detection of changes to lung structure that indicate a need for clinical intervention. I am working with Dr. Alex Horsley and Prof. Oliver Jensen here in Manchester, as well as Prof. Jim Wild in Sheffield.

My current research develops on previous work with Prof. Jensen and Dr. Tobias Galla on an EPSRC funded project titled "Forecasting personal health in an uncertain environment". In this work I developed models of air flow in the human lung to quantify the effects of correlated damage and heterogeneity on lung function.

I have previously held positions at the Universities of Warwick and Sheffield where my main research focus was modelling active soft matter. That is soft materials, mainly liquid crystals, driven out of equilibirum at the microscopic level. Such systems have numerous applications to biological matter such as collections of bacteria and cells as well as the cell cytoskeleton.

Research Interests

• Numerical modelling and pulmonary physiology
• Inert-gas washout and Cystic Fibrosis pathophysiology
• Uncertainty quantification and stochastic processes
• Active matter and swimming micro-organisms
• Liquid crystals and topological defects
• Low Reynolds number fluid mechanics and flows in confinement