Dr 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, statistician, and data scientist focused on applications in biology. Ryan 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: 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
2025 Buenzli, P. R., Kuba, S., Murphy, R. J., & Simpson, M. J. (2025). Mechanical cell interactions on curved interfaces. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 87(2, article no. 29), 1-40.
DOI
2025 Murphy, R. J., Faria, M., Osborne, J. M., & Johnston, S. T. (2025). Quantifying biological heterogeneity in nano-engineered particle-cell interaction experiments. Journal Of The Royal Society Interface, 22(230, article no. 20250206), 1-17.
DOI
2024 Murphy, R. J., Maclaren, O. J., & Simpson, M. J. (2024). Implementing measurement error models with mechanistic mathematical models in a likelihood-based framework for estimation, identifiability analysis and prediction in the life sciences. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 21(210, article no. 20230402), 1-22.
DOI
2024 Simpson, M. J., Murphy, R. J., & Maclaren, O. J. (2024). Modelling count data with partial differential equation models in biology. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 580(111732), 1-11.
DOI
2024 Murphy, R. J., Gunasingh, G., Haass, N. K., & Simpson, M. J. (2024). Formation and growth of co-culture tumour spheroids: new compartment-based mathematical models and experiments. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 86(1, article no. 8), 1-34.
DOI
2023 Murphy, R. J., Gunasingh, G., Haass, N. K., & Simpson, M. J. (2023). Growth and adaptation mechanisms of tumour spheroids with time-dependent oxygen availability. PLoS Computational Biology, 19(1, article no. e1010833), 1-29.
DOI
2023 Simpson, M. J., Walker, S. A., Studerus, E. N., McCue, S. W., Murphy, R. J., & Maclaren, O. J. (2023). Profile likelihood-based parameter and predictive interval analysis guides model choice for ecological population dynamics. Mathematical Biosciences, 355(108950), 1-12.
DOI
2022 Murphy, R. J. J., Maclaren, O. J. J., Calabrese, A. R. R., Thomas, P. B. B., Warne, D. J. J., Williams, E. D. D., & Simpson, M. J. J. (2022). Computationally efficient framework for diagnosing, understanding and predicting biphasic population growth. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 19(197, article no. 20220560), 1-14.
DOI
2022 Murphy, R. J., Browning, A. P., Gunasingh, G., Haass, N. K., & Simpson, M. J. (2022). Designing and interpreting 4D tumour spheroid experiments. Communications Biology, 5(1, article no. 91), 1-11.
DOI
2022 Klowss, J. J., Browning, A. P., Murphy, R. J., Carr, E. J., Plank, M. J., Gunasingh, G., . . . Simpson, M. J. (2022). A stochastic mathematical model of 4D tumour spheroids with real-time fluorescent cell cycle labelling. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 19(189, article no. 20210903), 1-11.
DOI
2022 Jolly, M. K., Murphy, R. J., Bhatia, S., Whitfield, H. J., Redfern, A., Davis, M. J., & Thompson, E. W. (2022). Measuring and Modelling the Epithelial- Mesenchymal Hybrid State in Cancer: Clinical Implications. Cells Tissues Organs, 211(2), 110-133.
DOI Scopus32 WoS30 Europe PMC35
2021 Browning, A. P., Sharp, J. A., Murphy, R. J., Gunasingh, G., Lawson, B., Burrage, K., . . . Simpson, M. (2021). Quantitative analysis of tumour spheroid structure. eLife, 10(article no. e73020), 1-25.
DOI
2021 Murphy, R. J., Buenzli, P. R., Baker, R. E., & Simpson, M. J. (2021). Travelling waves in a free boundary mechanobiological model of an epithelial tissue. Applied Mathematics Letters, 111(article no. 106636), 1-6.
DOI
2021 Murphy, R. J., Buenzli, P. R., Tambyah, T. A., Thompson, E. W., Hugo, H. J., Baker, R. E., & Simpson, M. J. (2021). The role of mechanical interactions in EMT. Physical Biology, 18(4, article no. 046001), 1-12.
DOI
2021 Reye, G., Huang, X., Haupt, L. M., Murphy, R. J., Northey, J. J., Thompson, E. W., . . . Hugo, H. J. (2021). Mechanical pressure driving proteoglycan expression in mammographic density: a self-perpetuating cycle?. Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia, 216(3), 277-296.
DOI
2020 Murphy, R. J., Buenzli, P. R., Baker, R. E., & Simpson, M. J. (2020). Mechanical cell competition in heterogeneous epithelial tissues. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 82(10, article no. 130), 1-27.
DOI
2020 Tambyah, T. A., Murphy, R. J., Buenzli, P. R., & Simpson, M. J. (2020). A free boundary mechanobiological model of epithelial tissues: a model of epithelial tissues. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 476(2243, article no. 0528), 1-18.
DOI
2019 Murphy, R. J., Buenzli, P. R., Baker, R. E., & Simpson, M. J. (2019). A one-dimensional individual-based mechanical model of cell movement in heterogeneous tissues and its coarse-grained approximation. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 475(2227, article no. 20180838), 1-17.
DOI

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2025 Co-Supervisor - Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Matt Mack
2025 Co-Supervisor - Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Aidan Patterson

Date Role Committee Institution Country
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 Bulletin of Mathematical Biology University of South Australia Australia

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