Rate My Professor Nigel Burroughs

Professor Nigel Burroughs is Professor of Mathematics in the Mathematics Institute at the University of Warwick, affiliated with the SBIDER/Zeeman Institute, a position he has held since October 1994. His research applies mathematical and statistical methods to understand biological and medical phenomena, emphasizing data-driven modelling via reverse engineering and inference. He fits biophysically motivated models to experimental data to infer parameters and mechanistic hypotheses, utilizing Bayesian techniques in a Markov chain Monte Carlo framework. Research interests include gene regulatory network inference, immunological synapse pattern formation, chromosome movements in cell division and human meiosis, DNA replication dynamics, microtubule dynamics, optimization of cancer treatments, immunological decision processes, and prediction of recurrent miscarriage. Methodologies encompass stochastic modelling, dynamical systems, partial differential equations, Monte Carlo simulations, perturbation theory, and control theory.

Burroughs receives current funding from the BBSRC for human cell division mechanics and regulation, and from the Wellcome Trust for human egg development and early cell divisions. Previous grants came from EPSRC for cancer therapy optimization using optimal control, Leverhulme Trust, and Tommy's baby charity for miscarriage prediction models underlying the Miscarriage Support Tool. He teaches Term 1 MA390 Topics in Mathematical Biology and Term 2 Mathematics of Cancer (MA4L5), supervises undergraduate research projects, PhD students from Mathematics CDT, MRC DTP, and IBR DTCs, and hosts postdoctoral researchers via fellowships like Newton and EuroCC. Collaborations include Andrew McAinsh and Siobhan Quenby at Warwick Medical School, Adele Marston at Edinburgh, and Annabelle Ballesta at Institut Curie. His lab develops integrated AI/ML and Bayesian tools for imaging data analysis.