Research


Our research is interdisciplinary at the interface of mathematics & pharmacy. This includes development of

  • new mathematical/statistical approaches, incl. model reduction of complex biological networks like the blood coagulation system and the epidermal growth factor receptor signalling cascade, or non-parametric goodness-of-fit testing for parametric covariate models
  • mathematical models for systems of pharmacological interest, incl. mechanistic models of bacterial growth under antibiotic actions, 3d models of endothelial cell morphology and blood flow interaction, cell-level models of inflammatory bowel diseases and their treatment options, or physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models for small molecules & therapeutic proteins
  • software development, incl. a MATLAB toolbox to support modelling and analysis in pharmacokinetics/-dynamics

as well as

  • analyses of experimental data from drug research and (pre-) clinical development, incl. special populations (obese, or pediadrics), special therapeutics (monoclonocal antibodies, CAR-T cell therapies), special indications (oncology, inflammation),
  • toxicokinetics of aluminium as vaccine adjuvant
  • optimising therapies by model-informed precision dosing (IMPD), e.g., by combining data assimilation and reinforcement learning, or by implementing IMPD in clincial practice

We are not dogmatic about the employed mathematical & statistical approaches. At the core are deterministic & stochastic models of dynamical systems (ordinary differential equations, differential-algebraic systems, Markov processes) and hierarchical statistical models (frequentist and Bayesian).  But we also link in to control theory or Boolean network models.

Our research is supported by several third-party funding schemes, most importantly within the larger projects

In addition, funding is based on individual research projects, e.g., on

  • model based assessment of aluminium concentrations in rat & human with the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute (PEI), Germany
  • transport mediated uptake clearance with the Bayer Pharma AG
  • adaptation and optimisation of dosing strategies of a mAb with Merck KGaA

The group members typically span a range of disciplines, incl. mathematics, bioinformatics/systems biology, physics or pharmacy.