Centre for
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- Who I am
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I am currently a Research Fellow at the Department of Mathematics at University College London. I am also a visiting Fellow at the Centre for Mathematical Biology at Oxford University. My research involves developing mathematical models to explore the mechanisms involved in cellular patterning of the vertebrate neural tube. My research is a close collaboration with James Briscoe and his Developmental Neurobiology group at the National Institite for Medical Research (NIMR).
- I come from Bitola in Republic of Macedonia where I completed my primary and secondary education. I came to UK in September 1994 to study for A-levels in Bromsgrove School, England as a Scholar of the SOROS Foundation. After completing my A-levels I obtained a scholarship from The Queen's College, Oxford to study Mathematics at Oxford University. I completed my undergraduate studies in Mathematics (BA) in June 1999 and I obtained a Masters Degree in Mathematics (MMath) in June 2000. I then went on to doctoral studies in Mathematical Sciences and completed my DPhil in Mathematical Biology at Oxford Univeristy in December 2004. During my undergraduate and graduate studies at Oxford University as a Scholar of The Queen's College. During my doctoral studies I was a Non-stipendiary Lecturer in few Oxford Colleges: The Queen's College, Lady Margaret Hall and St.Hugh's College. After completing my DPhil I worked as a temporary Lecturer and post-doctoral Fellow at the Chemical Engineering Department in Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh in parallel to my teaching duties in mathematics at Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford. In addition from May 2006 until November 2007 I was a consultant for Unilever Corporate Research developing mathematical models for lipid metabolism.After a career break due to parental responsibilities, I started my current post at UCL in December 2007.
- Research Interests
- My academic research is an interdisciplinary cross between mathematics and medicine. I enjoy mathematical modelling of different medical problems using analytical methods and numerical simulation techniques. Mathematical modelling is used as a research tool, comparable with any powerful laboratory technique, for hypotheses testing and for making experimentally verifiable predictions.
- My current research is developing mathematical and computational models for morphogen dynanics patterning of the vertebrate neural tube. My previous research has been diverse. During my doctoral and initial postdoctoral position I worked on mathematical modelling of tumour growth and implications for therapy. In this field I collaborate with Prof Philip Maini from Oxford University and Prof Helen Byrne from Nottingham University and am involved in Marrie Currie Research Training Network in Modelling, Mathematical Methods and Computer Simulation of Tumour Growth and Therapy . During my post-doctoral research at Heriot-Watt University I was working with Prof Raffaella Ocone on applications of statistical mechanics and thermodynamics to medicine. In particular, we were modelling cell communications as a result of calcium oscillations. During my research at Unilever, I modelled lipid metabolism, and in particular the effect of high and low-saturated diet on the increase in cholesterol levels. In collaboration with Prof Graeme Pettet from QUT in Australia I have, more recently, worked on developing a mathematical model for glioma invasion.
- Some of my current research areas are:
- Vertebrate pattern formation
- My current research is understanding how the concentration and duration of morphogen Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) control the expression pattern of different progenitor cells in the vertebrate neural tube. I use deterministic and stochastic equations in combination with numerical simulations to understand the mechanisms by which distinct profiles of the transcription factors are produced by gradded Shh signalling. My mathematical modelling is combined with experimental studies from James Briscoe's group at NIMR and two joint publications are currently in preparation.
- Cancer modelling
- In the last twenty years many mathematical models have been produced to model different stages of tumour growth such as the avascular tumour growth, angiogenesis, vascular growth and metastasis. In my DPhil I have formulated a deterministic model that can capture \emph{in vitro} tumour growth. In such a setting I was able to study continous tumour growth through all previously mentioned stages of growth. In my model the variableseither contributed to the expansion of the tumour (eg. tumour, normal and vascular cells) or had negligible volume but effected tumour growth indirectly (eg. chemoattractants, nutrients). The aim of my DPhil was to try and understand the complex processes that are associated with vascular tumor growth and find the best therapy to halt tumour expansion. The results obtained allowed us to understand better the interaction between the tumour and the surrounding host cells as well as the relationship between tumour angiogenesis and tumour invasion during continous tumour growth. We also explored the impact of different tumour therapies when a blood-borne drug is introduced in the system targeting different aspects of tumour growth. Recent extension of my doctoral research, in collaboration with Helen Byrne and Philip Maini, has been into producing a model that can study the coupling between tumour angiogenesis and tumor-host dynamics.
- Calcium oscillations
- During my post-doctoral research at Heriot-Watt, together with Raffaella Ocone, we used statistical mechanics to study the communication signalling within a collection of cells. Recent extension of this work has been the formulation of a system of integro-differential equations to describe the relationship between the cell concentration and the metabolic temperature of the system as a measure for the rate of calcium oscillations within the cell population. A scientific paper on this subject has recently been submitted for publication to Physica A.
- Recent Publications
- A Theoretical Study of The Response of Vascular Tumours to Different Types of Chemotherapy', J.Panovska, H. M. Byrne and P. K. Maini, Math. Comp. Model., (2008) 47:560-579 paper copy .
- Mathematical model for Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) Endocytosis by Hepatocytes, J.D.Wattis, B.O'Malley,H.Blackburn,L.Pickersgill,J.Panovska,H.M.Byrne and K.G.Jackson, Bull.Math.Biol., (2008) 70:2303-2333 paper copy .
- Mathematical Modelling of Vascular Tumour Growth and Implications for Therapy', J.Panovska, H.MByrne, P.K.Maini In: Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems, Volume I. A. Deutsch, L. Brusch, H. Byrne, G. de Vries and H. P. Herzel (eds). Birkhuser, Boston, 211-222 (2007) paper copy .
- Mathematical Modelling of Angiogenesis and Vascular Adaptation', T.Alarcon, H.M.Byrne, J.Panovska and P.K.Maini, in R.Paton, L McNamara (Eds.) 'Multidisciplinary Approaches to Theory in Medicine', Elsevier, February 2006, ISBN 0444518061. paper copy
- Mathematical Models of Hepatic Lipoprotein, J.Panovska, M.Tindall, J.Wattis, H.M.Byrne, L.Pickersgill, Report for the Proceedings of the 5th Mathematics in Medicine Study Group, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, U.K, 12-16th September 2005. paper copy
- A Novel Approach to Studying Cell Communications Signalling', J.Panovska, Proceedings of the 37 Winter Computer Simulations Conference, Orlando, Florida, USA, 4-7th December 2005, PhD Colloquium, Article 5, ISBN 0-7803-9519-0 paper copy .
- Interests and activities
- Promoting mathematics and science
- I enjoy promoting mathematics and its applications and motivating students to embrace these as part of their academic development. In the past I was the website editor for the Maths Careers website as part of The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA). I am currently involved with the the Further Mathematics Support Initiative. This involves giving talks to students at GCSE and A-level in schools about the purpose of mathematics: why it is interesting and also how it can be useful in everyday life. I believe that motivating the next generation of mathematicians, and scientists, is an important aspect of the development of the education of our nation.
- Sport
- I enjoy sport as an important aspect of everyday life and, weather permiting, I try to play tennis and basketball as often as I can.
- Drama
- I enjoy acting and have acted in three plays during my undergraduate and graduate studies at Oxford. These days I prefer watching plays and musicals at the London West End.
- I come from Bitola in Republic of Macedonia where I completed my primary and secondary education. I came to UK in September 1994 to study for A-levels in Bromsgrove School, England as a Scholar of the SOROS Foundation. After completing my A-levels I obtained a scholarship from The Queen's College, Oxford to study Mathematics at Oxford University. I completed my undergraduate studies in Mathematics (BA) in June 1999 and I obtained a Masters Degree in Mathematics (MMath) in June 2000. I then went on to doctoral studies in Mathematical Sciences and completed my DPhil in Mathematical Biology at Oxford Univeristy in December 2004. During my undergraduate and graduate studies at Oxford University as a Scholar of The Queen's College. During my doctoral studies I was a Non-stipendiary Lecturer in few Oxford Colleges: The Queen's College, Lady Margaret Hall and St.Hugh's College. After completing my DPhil I worked as a temporary Lecturer and post-doctoral Fellow at the Chemical Engineering Department in Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh in parallel to my teaching duties in mathematics at Lady Margaret Hall at Oxford. In addition from May 2006 until November 2007 I was a consultant for Unilever Corporate Research developing mathematical models for lipid metabolism.After a career break due to parental responsibilities, I started my current post at UCL in December 2007.
Website last updated 23 September 2009 by J.Panovska. Comments on and suggestions for this site to J.Panovska