Helen Byrne


Helen M. Byrne is a professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Oxford. Her work considers mathematical models to describe biomedical systems. She also serves as Director of Equality and Diversity in the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division. She was awarded the 2019 Society for Mathematical Biology Leah Edelstein-Keshet Prize.

Early life and education

Byrne attended Manchester High School for Girls. Eventually she studied mathematics at Newnham College at the University of Cambridge, where she became interested in the applications of mathematics to real-world problems. She moved to Wadham College at the University of Oxford for her graduate studies, where she earned a master's degree in Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Analysis. She remained at Oxford for her doctoral degree in applied mathematics. She was appointed as a postdoctoral fellow at the cyclotron unit at Hammersmith Hospital. There, she started working in mathematical and theoretical biology. She fitted mathematical models to positron emission tomography scans to evaluate oxygen and glucose transport. After hearing Mark Chaplain talk about tumour growth at a conference she realised that her mathematical skills could be useful to different areas of medicine.

Research and career

Byrne worked with Mark Chaplain at the University of Bath from 1993. She joined the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology as a lecturer in 1996. In 1998 Byrne joined the University of Nottingham, where she was promoted to Professor in 2003. Byrne was involved with the development of the Nottingham Centre for Mathematical Medicine and Biology, which she directed from 1999 to 2011.
She joined the faculty at the University of Oxford in 2011 where she was made Professor of Mathematical Biology based in the Mathematical Institute. Her research has considered mathematical models to describe biological tissue. She has explored how oxygen levels impact biological function, developing complex models that can describe disease progression. She was part of a team who demonstrated that cell cannibalism is involved in the development of inflammatory diseases.
Byrne was appointed Director of Equality and Diversity in the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division in 2016. In 2018 she was awarded the Society for Mathematical Biology Leah Edelstein-Keshet Prize. Byrne is an investigator on the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Cyclops Healthcare Network as well as the University of Liverpool 3D BioNet.

Selected publications

Whilst a graduate student at Oxford, she competed for OUWLRC in the Henley Boat Races in 1990 and 1991, earning a Half Blue_ each time.