Professor David Broomhead
From the Manchester Bio-Modelling Network
Name
Dave Broomhead
david.broomhead@manchester.ac.uk
Position
Professor of Applied Mathematics
Affiliation
School of Mathematics, The University of Manchester
Research Interests
I am interested in nonlinear dynamical systems theory. In systems biology most of the dynamical systems that occur are coupled systems of nonlinear differential equations but the mathematical ideas can be extended to a wider range of more complex problems. (For example,if there are delays in the equations or if the lack of spatial uniformity of concentrations require the use of partial differential equations.)
There is a lot of theory about how the behaviour of these systems can be understood at long times (when their behaviour is controlled by attractors), but there is also work on describing transient behaviour. Questions such as `how does the behaviour of this system change as I change various parameters?' can also be addressed. A particular interest of mine has been to understand what can information about the system can be recovered when it is only possible to make (repeated) measurements of a subset of the variables that determine the state of the system. I am also interested in developing these techniques to provide a theory of nonlinear signalling.
As well as systems biology (I work with Douglas Kell on IkappaB signalling) I have done work on modelling of collective behaviour in insect colonies and modelling plankton dynamics, and I collaborate with people in the Faculty of Life Sciences on the modelling neural systems for controlling eye movements.
