Paul Sweeney

Academic Background

In 2009, Paul joined the Department of Mathematics at the University of Southampton as an Undergraduate studying Mathematics. Developing an interest in Applied Mathematics, in his final year, he chose to undertake a research project modelling tear film dynamics under the supervision of Prof. Colin Please.

In 2012, to further develop his interest in Fluid Dynamics, Paul began his MSc in Applied Mathematics at Imperial College London. Here he undertook a project, supervised by Prof. Anatoly Ruban, concerning high Reynolds number laminar flow past a slender body of revolution. The mathematics involved applying asymptotic techniques to derive self-similar solutions for the boundary layer and further study of the resultant shock wave.

In October 2013, Paul joined the Healthcare Engineering for an Ageing Population (HEAP) research group in UCL Mechanical Engineering, for a four-year DTP under the supervision of Dr Rebecca Shipley and Dr Simon Walker-Samuel. His PhD culminated in the development of a novel mathematical modelling platform (REANIMATE – REAlistic Numerical Image-based Modelling of biologicAl Tissue substratEs), parameterised against both in vivoand ex vivodata, to simulate fluid delivery across large-scale biological tissue, thereby providing detailed information beneficial to inferring biological phenomena. This platform was initially used to explore physiological mechanisms on cortical blood flow regulation to test current regulatory hypotheses and propose new ones. The modelling paradigm was then applied to whole, real-world tumours for the first time, providing increased awareness of the effects of vascular spatial heterogeneities on intravascular fluid transport and the surrounding interstitial microenvironment.

In October 2017, Paul started work as a Rosetrees Trust Fellow on a project to predict and inform the use of immunotherapy to treat pancreatic tumours. In October 2019, Paul moved to the VISION Lab within the CRUK Cambridge Institute, with a Visiting Research Fellow position in UCL Mechanical Engineering

Qualifications

• PhD Applied Mathematics, University College London (2018)
• MRes Mathematical Modelling (HEAP), University College London (2014)
• MSc Applied Mathematics, Imperial College London (2013)
• BSc (Hons) Mathematics, University of Southampton (2012)

Publications

• A. d’Esposito*, P. W. Sweeney*, M. Ali, M. Saleh, R. Ramasawmy, T. A. Roberts, G. Agliardi, A. Desjardins, M. F. Lythgoe, R. B. Pedley, R. J. Shipley* and S. Walker-Samuel*. ‘Combining optical imaging of cleared tissue with mathematical modelling and in vivoimaging’. Nature Bio. Eng. (Under Review).

*Joint first/last.

• C. F. Graham, S. Windsor, A. Adjuk, P. Sweeney, I. Tagbo, T. Trinh, D. Kalsi, M. Zernicka-Goetz, R. J. Shipley, K. Swann, A. Thomas, 2018. Dynamics of late mouse zygote and early 2-cell stage. Submitted to Developmental Dynamics.
• Sweeney, P. W.,Walker-Samuel, S., and Shipley, R. J. 2018. Insights into cerebral haemodynamics and oxygenation utilising in vivo mural cell imaging and mathematical modelling. Scientific Reports 8:1373.

Conference Proceedings

• P. W. Sweeney, S. Walker-Samuel, R. J. Shipley. Insights into cerebral haemodynamics and oxygenation utilising in vivo mural cell imaging and mathematical modelling. In: 55th Annual Technical Meeting of the Society of Engineering Science, 10th to 12th October 2018, Leganés, Madrid, Spain.
• P. W. Sweeney, A. d’Esposito, S. Walker-Samuel, R. J. Shipley. Modelling the Transport of Fluid and Solutes Through Heterogeneous, Real-World, Tumour Substrates Derived from Optically-Cleared Samples. In: 6th European Conference on Computational Mechanics and the 7th Euopean Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, 11th to 15th June 2018, Glasgow, UK.
• P. W. Sweeney, S. Walker-Samuel, R. J. Shipley. 3-Dimensional Discrete-Continuum Modelling of Microcirculatory Blood Flow. In: European Conference on Mathematical & Theoretical Biology, 11th to 15th July 2016, University of Nottingham.
• P. W.Sweeney, S. Walker-Samuel, R. J. Shipley. Mathematical modelling of blood perfusion and oxygenation in microvascular networks with applications in stroke research. In: International Society on Oxygen Transport to Tissue Annual Conference, 28th June to 3rd July 2014, London.