It was a pleasure to deliver an invited talk as part of the Statistics of strange species session at the RSS conference a couple of weeks ago! I presented my work on modelling the spread of the oak processionary moth in London – with a particular focus on the inference techniques used to extract our model parameters. There were some great talks over the week, and plenty accessible for an applied mathematician like myself!
I was pleased to present my work with undergraduate summer project student Ramita Dhanda at the Higher Education Academy EDI Conference this week! Through our literature review we found a large gap in research examining the lived experiences of women in mathematics in UK Higher Education. Next step – fill this gap with our own study at Newcastle!
Our recent work investigating the dynamics of the pluripotency transcription factor OCT4 has been published in PLoS ONE.
We use fractional Brownian motion and the stochastic logistic equation to describe the temporal properties of OCT4 in a growing hESC colony. We particularly look at using a time-dependent carrying capacity or an Allee effect to capture the decline in OCT4 upon cell differentiation, pictured below!
Our recent work investigating the dynamics of the pluripotency transcription factor OCT4 has been published in IOP Physical Biology:
OCT4 expression in human embryonic stem cells: spatio-temporal dynamics and fate transitions
We use time-lapse experimental data of OCT4-mCherry fluorescence intensity to quantify the temporal and spatial dynamics of the pluripotency transcription factor OCT4 in a growing hESC colony in the presence and absence of BMP4.
Last year I won 2nd Prize in the Smith Institute’s TakeAIM competition (Articulating the Influence of Mathematics). The competition is an opportunity for university students to showcase their work on the industrial stage and to highlight the crucial role mathematics plays in solving real-world problems while rewarding the academic exploration of future innovators who undertake pioneering research.
The awards ceremony at Imperial College London featured presentations from other winning entries, interesting industrial talks and a very fancy afternoon tea! My winning entry can be viewed here and the article in the school news here.
