Research Interests
Applied Mathematics Applied Statistics Biological Mathematics Mathematical SciencesDr Ryan Murphy
Lecturer
School of Mathematical Sciences
College of Science
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD (as Co-Supervisor) - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Ryan is an applied mathematician, with expertise in statistics, data science, and wet lab experimental biology. Ryan develops and applies a range of mathematical and statistical modelling techniques to explore tumour growth, epithelial tissue dynamics, nanoparticle-cell interactions, and population dynamics. In these problems Ryan connects a variety of spatial and temporal scales, for example when exploring how subcellular processes that occur on the timescale of seconds influences tissue-level outcomes on the timescale of weeks.
Ryan enjoys teaching undergraduate subjects, supervising honours, masters, and PhD students, and is active in the Australian applied mathematics and mathematical biology community.
I am an applied mathematician, statistician and data scientist, with wet-lab experimental biology experience. I focus on applications in biology.
Mathematics. I specialise in: discrete models – taking the form of systems of ordinary differential equations; stochastic agent-based models; continuum models – taking the form of system of nonlinear partial differential equations; discrete to continuum limits; travelling wave analysis; perturbation analysis; moving boundary problems derived from biologically motivated cell-level processes; hierarchical models, and, tumour growth models.
Data science and statistics. To connect mathematical models to data I use techniques from statistics, specialising in: statistical uncertainty analysis; parameter estimation; parameter identifiability; prediction; profile likelihood-based methods; Bayesian MCMC methods; approximate Bayesian computation.
Biology. Applications of interest include: epithelial tissue dynamics (mechanical cellular relaxation, cell proliferation, cell death, mechanical cell competition, mechanochemical feedback loops), avascular tumour growth (experimental design, co-culture growth, adaptation mechanisms to time-dependent oxygen), epithelial-mesenchymal transitions (EMT), the cell cycle, population dynamics; and nanoparticle-cell interactions.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Lecturer | Adelaide University |
| 2025 - 2025 | Lecturer: Mathematical Sciences | University of South Australia |
| 2023 - 2025 | Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Multiscale Mathematical Modelling of Cell Biology | University of Melbourne |
| 2022 - 2023 | Associate Lecturer | Queensland University of Technology |
| 2021 - 2023 | Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Mathematical Biology | Queensland University of Technology |
| 2015 - 2018 | Senior Consultant | Deloitte (United Kingdom) |
| Language | Competency |
|---|---|
| English | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 - 2022 | Queensland University of Technology | Australia | PhD |
| 2011 - 2015 | University of Oxford | United Kingdom | Master of Mathematics (M.Math) |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Chambers, K. L., Coster, A. C. F., Flegg, J. A., Murphy, R. J., Myerscough, M. R., Ndenda, J. P., . . . Watson, M. G. (2026). Atherosclerosis: reflections on mathematical modelling, data and other matters. In MATRIX Book Series (pp. 217-222). Springer Nature Switzerland. DOI |
| 2026 | Murphy, R. J., Coster, A. C. F., Flegg, J. A., Ndenda, J. P., Myerscough, M. R., & Byrne, H. M. (2026). Quantifying bead accumulation inside a cannibalistic macrophage population. In MATRIX Book Series (pp. 201-215). Springer Nature Switzerland. DOI |
| 2024 | Spoerri, L., Beaumont, K. A., Anfosso, A., Murphy, R. J., Browning, A. P., Gunasingh, G., & Haass, N. K. (2024). Real-time cell cycle imaging in a 3D cell culture model of melanoma, quantitative analysis, optical clearing, and mathematical modeling. In Z. Koledove (Ed.), Source details - Title: 3D Cell Culture: Methods and Protocols (Vol. 2764, pp. 291-310). US: Humana Press. DOI |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Warne, D. J., Zhu, X., Steele, T. P., Johnston, S. T., Sisson, S. A., Faria, M., . . . Browning, A. P. (2025). A multilevel hierarchical framework for quantification of experimental heterogeneity. DOI |
Courses I teach
- STAT 1000 Data Skills for Scientists (Semester 1, 2026)
- MATH X410 Topics in Applied Mathematics A (Semester 1, 2026)
- STAT 3013 Capstone Project in Applied Data Analytics III (Semester 2, 2026)
- MATH 1056 Linear Algebra (2025)
- MATH 3041 Topics in Mathematics 2 (2025)
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Co-Supervisor | Data-Driven Mathematical Modelling of Nanoparticles in Biomedicine | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Cameron Shaw-Carmody |
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | 213-Mathematical modelling of the extracellular actin scavenging system | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Matt Mack |
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | 208-Mathematical modelling and computation of biofilm growth and cell death | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Aidan Patterson |
| Date | Role | Committee | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 - ongoing | Member | ANZIAM | ANZIAM (Australia and New Zealand Industrial and Applied Mathematics) is a division of The Australian Mathematical Society (AustMS) | Australia |
| 2025 - ongoing | Member | Society of Mathematical Biology Newsletter Publication Board | Society of Mathematical Biology | Australia |
| 2022 - 2023 | Treasurer | Queensland Branch of ANZIAM | QANZIAM | Australia |
| 2021 - 2022 | Member | Queensland Branch of ANZIAM | QANZIAM | Australia |
| Date | Role | Membership | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 - ongoing | Member | AUSTMS | - |
| 2020 - ongoing | Member | Society of Mathematical Biology | - |
| 2018 - ongoing | Member | ANZIAM | - |
| Date | Role | Editorial Board Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Associate Editor | PLoS Computational Biology | Adelaide University | Australia |
| 2025 - ongoing | Associate Editor | Bulletin of Mathematical Biology | Adelaide University | Australia |