School of Mathematics and Statistics
School of Mathematics and Statistics
I have broad interests in the mathematics of biological interactions, particularly host-parasitoid interactions, the evolution of developmental timing, and modelling dynamics of rapid evolutionary processes such as antigenic variation in trypanosomes and mutation leading to myotonic dystrophy.
Vinny Davies
I am a Ph.D. student in the School of Mathematics and Statistics where I study Bayesian Computational Statistics for Systems Biology. My current work looks into creating statistical models for predicting cross-protection between strains within Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus. I also do some work incorporating a more realistic error structure into the modelling of Transcriptional Regulation.
My interests include mathematical modelling of the ecology of plants using spatial point processes, plankton population dynamics, and in general mathematical biology and physiology.
My research focuses on the application, adaptation and improvement of computational statistics and machine learning methods for systems biology and ecology. This includes Bayesian inference of non-homogeneous dynamical Bayesian networks for modelling species interactions, both in molecular biology (genes, proteins, metabolites) and ecology (ecological networks), as well as parameter inference and model selection in mechanistic models of biopathways. One of the main biological applications I am currently involved in is the inference of molecular feedback mechanisms between circadian regulation and metabolism in plants. Other projects I am involved in are related to viral evolution (with Richard Reeve) and mass migration (with Jason Matthiopoulos).