The Zeeman Institute for Systems Biology & Infectious Disease Epidemiology Research (SBIDER) specialises in bringing sophisticated mathematics to challenges in biological sciences. Our research spans from the theoretical to practical policy advice, and from the genome to the population. We are a team of around 20 staff from across campus with individuals based in Maths, Stats, Computer Science, Life Sciences and Medicine.
At the core of our research is a desire to better understand and predict the biological world.
A new objective for the optimisation of cancer chemotherapy was developed by the Burroughs lab in Tzamarias et al, 2025. They used ideas in branching processes to develop the life-expectancy payoff that averages over outcomes, such as cure and death.…
Kerama, I; Thorne, T; Everitt, RG (2026) Rare event ABC-SMC STATISTICS AND COMPUTING 36 225
Ojetunde, M; Ma, L; Goodney, HG; Stevens, AM; Mizener, A; Pistilli, EE; Ott, S; Abdilleh, K; Szomolay, B; Hu, GQ; Eubank, TD; Boone, BA (2026) Exploratory single-nucleus multiomics analysis of myeloid cell states associated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE 16 e70810
Roy, SS; Everitt, RG; Robert, CP; Dutta, R (2026) Prequential posteriors JAPANESE JOURNAL OF STATISTICS AND DATA SCIENCE
Cole, TA; Ball, TV; Montenegro-Johnson, TD (2026) Suppression of viscoplastic Saffman-Taylor fingering in a tapered cell JOURNAL OF NON-NEWTONIAN FLUID MECHANICS 350 105655
Kaye, AR; Sun, LT; Hart, WS; Hurrell, JW; Tildesley, MJ; Thompson, RN (2026) The effect of natural climate variability on future vector-borne disease suitability: A mathematical modelling study PLOS CLIMATE 5 e0000877
Doyle, NJ; Cumming, F; Finnie, TJR; West, M; Thompson, RN; Tildesley, MJ (2026) The case for using flexible healthcare capacity constraints to optimize pandemic control strategies JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE 23 20251046
Rawlings, NN; Bailey, MS; Courtenay, O (2026) Spatiotemporal distribution, abundance, diversity and risk of human exposure to phlebotomine sand flies, vectors of Leishmania in Belize PARASITES & VECTORS 19 406
Fontaine, M; Delás, MJ; Sáez, M; Maizels, RJ; Finnie, E; Briscoe, J; Rand, DA (2026) Dynamic Landscape Analysis of cell fate decisions provides predictive models of neural development from single-cell data PLOS BIOLOGY 24 e3003953
Hu, SG; Aslett, L; Dai, HS; Pollock, M; Roberts, GO (2026) PRIVACY GUARANTEES IN POSTERIOR SAMPLING UNDER CONTAMINATION ANNALS OF STATISTICS 54 1870-1894
Volz, E; Didelot, X (2026) Quantifying the predictability of evolution by analysis of coalescent rate variation MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION 43 msag195
Sunnucks, R; Davis, EL; Rock, KS (2026) Methods for reproducible comparison of strategies in stochastic modelling JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE 23 20251081
Spencer, R; Klepacz, N; Long, AL; Spencer, SEF; Mistry, H; Griffiths, F; Dale, J (2026) Pilot of a novel patient-led intervention for postdischarge from hospital management of older patients' care in general practice FAMILY MEDICINE AND COMMUNITY HEALTH 14 e003981
Klepacz, N; Long, A; Shariff, Z; Spencer, SEF; Mistry, H; Griffiths, F; Dale, J; Spencer, R (2026) General practice follow-up after hospital discharge in older adults: retrospective record analysis in UK primary care BRITISH JOURNAL OF GENERAL PRACTICE
Conway, CC; Germanova, TE; Toral-Pérez, S; Coates, C; Pines, J; Burroughs, NJ; McAinsh, AD (2026) Single kinetochores execute an ordered series of molecular events as the spindle assembly checkpoint is silenced CELL REPORTS 45 117493
Rawlings, NN; Bailey, MS; Rodrigues, BL; Andrade, JD; Ibáñez-Bernal, S; Courtenay, O (2026) Photographic atlas of phlebotomine sand flies collected in north-west and central east Belize PARASITES & VECTORS 19 378
Rawlings, NN; Bailey, MS; Courtenay, O (2026) Efficacy of volatile pyrethroid spatial repellents to reduce exposure to mosquito and sand fly vectors and human infection risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis PARASITES & VECTORS 19 370
Huang, CI et al. (2026) Transmission and cost-effectiveness modelling to estimate the progress towards elimination and future strategy optimisation for gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in Uganda BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES 26 1697
Jolley, EM; Booth, DJ; Montenegro-Johnson, TD (2026) Asymptotic description of confined hydrogel swelling PHYSICAL REVIEW FLUIDS 11 53102
Carson, J; Crellen, T; Borlase, A; Prada, JM; Bailey, R; Hollingsworth, TD; Spencer, SEF (2026) Dynamics of trachoma infection in West Africa revealed by a hidden state model PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY 22 e1014313
Rotheram, S; Trivett, H; Whitehurst, J; Collins, C; Carson, J; Staniszewska, S; Didelot, X (2026) Public and patient involvement: exploring public partnership in pathogen whole-genome sequencing research and its data visualisation MICROBIAL GENOMICS 12 1691
Riley, DM; Elsayed, R; Walsh, MD; Johal, S; Lin, Y; Walton, H; Bretschneider, T; Ott, S; Nelson, AC (2026) Functional genomics analysis of developing zebrafish and human endoderm reveals highly conserved cis-regulatory modules acting during vertebrate organogenesis GENOME RESEARCH 36 695-712
Didelot, X; Carson, J; Ribeca, P; Volz, E (2026) DiagnoDating: diagnostics for dated phylogenies in microbial population genetics MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND EVOLUTION 43 msag093
Ortiz, AT; Didelot, X; Grandjean, L (2026) Reducing mapping reference and lineage bias in Mycobacterium tuberculosis MICROBIAL GENOMICS 12 1690
Chávez, VA; Brown, N; Parnell, S; Combes, M; Dyke, A; Hall, C; Karlsdóttir, B; Marzano, M; Morris, J; O'Brien, L; Williams, D; Milne, AE (2026) Surveillance of ash trees under multiple threats: Integrating emerald ash borer and ash dieback dynamics with stakeholder behaviour JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY 63 e70304
Ben Swallow; Rand, DA; Minas, G (2026) Bayesian Inference for Stochastic Oscillatory Systems Using the Phase-Corrected Linear Noise Approximation BAYESIAN ANALYSIS 21 371-400
Ratnawati, H; Sanjaya, A; Christiandy, A; Young, LS; Ott, S (2026) The ubiquitin-proteasome system is an important driver of EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma progression: a meta-analysis of transcriptomic data SCIENTIFIC REPORTS 16 8892
Bynens, L et al. (2026) Revealing the Full Potential of Glycolated Mixed Ionic-Electronic Semiconductors - Symmetric Monomer Polymerization to Boost Electrochemical Transistor Performance JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY 148 8383-8392
Butler, MD; Walker, BJ; Montenegro-Johnson, TD; Katsamba, P (2026) Elastohydrodynamics of three-dimensional chemically active filaments JOURNAL OF FLUID MECHANICS 1029 A42
Marjani, M; Cohnstaedt, LW; Contina, JB; Jones, C; Moon, SA; Seibel, RL; Tildesley, MJ; Scoglio, CM; Mundt, CC (2026) Comparison of structurally diverse simulation models for prediction of epidemic outcomes caused by a long-distance dispersed pathogen ECOLOGICAL MODELLING 515 111539
Rysava, K; Madewell, ZJ; Thayer, MB; Sánchez-González, L; Muniz-Rodriguez, K; Brown, A; Thwing, J; Adams, LE; Paz-Bailey, G; Johansson, MA (2026) Using Routine Surveillance Data to Assess Dengue Virus Transmission Risk in Travelers Returning to the United States EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES 32 202-210
Kalamara, M; Bonsall, A; Griffin, J; Carneiro, J; Gierlinski, M; Eigentler, L; Stevenson, D; Wood, A; Porter, M; Dorfmueller, HC; Macphee, CE; Abbott, JC; Stanley-Wall, NR (2026) Regulatory rewiring drives intraspecies competition in Bacillus subtilis PLOS GENETICS 22 e1012050
Thompson, RN et al. (2026) Infectious disease outbreak controllability: biological, social and public health factors PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES 293 20252848
Cooper, AJ; Keeling, MJ (2026) A health economic assessment of relaxation of COVID-19 control in England 2021 ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 13 251505
Oyedele, GJ; Vlaev, I; Tildesley, MJ (2026) Differential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on sociodemographic groups: A mathematical model framework PLOS ONE 21 e0330273
Koki, C; Inchingolo, AV; Daniyan, A; Li, E; Mcainsh, AD; Burroughs, NJ (2026) Bayesian data driven modelling of kinetochore dynamics: Space-time organisation of the human metaphase plate PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY 22 e1013884
Oyedele, GJ; Shanker, A; Tildesley, MJ; Vlaev, I (2026) Assessing the relationships between capability, opportunity, and motivation in influencing self-isolation behaviour during pandemics SCIENTIFIC REPORTS 16 5251
Eigentler, L; Sensi, M (2026) Wavelength Selection for Periodic Travelling Waves: An Unsolved Problem BULLETIN OF MATHEMATICAL BIOLOGY 88 22
Ascolani, F; Roberts, GO; Zanella, G (2026) Scalability of Metropolis-within-Gibbs schemes for high-dimensional Bayesian models JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY SERIES B-STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY 88 1231-1250
Nasar, MI; Sabih Ur Rehman, S; Ott, S; Alam, MT (2026) Uncovering coordinated pathway interactions through gene co-differential expression in yeast NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH 54 gkaf1410
Muñoz, M et al. (2026) Structured electrolytes facilitate Grotthuss-type transport for enhanced proton-coupled electron transfer reactions PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 123 e2530367122
Fountain, H; Thorley, K; Reid, D; Ogaz, D; Richardson, D; Charles, H; Baker, KS; Jenkins, C; Pulford, CV; Hughes, G; Field, N; Mercer, CH; Didelot, X; McCarthy, N; Mohammed, H; Mitchell, HD (2026) Acceptability and Feasibility of Longitudinal Sampling for Sexually Transmitted Enteric Infections in Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex With Men (GBMSM): Prospective Cohort Pilot Study Conducted in 2022 in South East England JMIR PUBLIC HEALTH AND SURVEILLANCE 12 e73762
Dyson, L (2026) Louise Dyson's contribution to the Discussion of 'Some statistical aspects of the Covid-19 response' by Wood et al. JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY SERIES A-STATISTICS IN SOCIETY 189
Keeling, MJ (2026) Matt Keeling's contribution to the Discussion of 'Some statistical aspects of the COVID-19 response' by Wood et al. JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY SERIES A-STATISTICS IN SOCIETY 189
Wu, SX; Davis, CN; Arnold, M; Tildesley, MJ (2026) The role of ducks in detecting Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in small-scale backyard poultry farms PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY 22 e1013357
Davis, CN; Hill, EM; Jewell, CP; Rysava, K; Thompson, RN; Tildesley, MJ (2026) A modelling assessment of the impact of control measures on highly pathogenic avian influenza transmission in poultry in Great Britain PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY 22 e1013874