Professor John Terry: From Eltham to Edgbaston: Navigating the rhythms of life using mathematics

As part of the Inaugural Lecture Series of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and the College of Medical and Dental Sciences, join Professor John Terry, Interdisciplinary Professorial Fellow and Director of the Centre for Systems Modelling and Quantitative Biomedicine as he delivers his inaugural lecture.

Abstract: I have always had an affinity with numbers and patterns. However, with a schoolteacher telling me not to take A-level mathematics and work experience in a plumber's merchant, a career in academia didn't seem an obvious choice. During this talk I will introduce concepts of mathematical models and discuss how they can be used to describe complex processes in biology and medicine. I will focus on their use to study the brain and some of the inputs that the brain receives. I will also discuss their use in interpreting signals that we collect from the brain and whether this can help us decide if someone has a neurological condition like epilepsy. By the end of the talk, I hope to have inspired you by the potential that integrating mathematics and medicine offers and, at least, left you with a better feel for who I am and what I do.

There will be a reception afterwards in the basement room B16 of the Watson Building.