Rachel Coy

Academic Background

Rachel obtained her undergraduate degree in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge in 2013, after studying a wide range of both pure and applied maths. During her final year, she became interested in mathematical biology and focused on topics such as dynamical systems, probability and statistical modelling. After graduating, she worked on a mathematical biology project supervised by Dr Hermes Gadelha which involved modelling the movement of sperm using mechanics.

Rachel joined the UCL CoMPLEX MRes/PhD scheme in 2014, funded by the British Heart Foundation, and completed her MRes in 2015. During the year she undertook three mini research projects and one longer summer project, with an emphasis on computational/mathematical modelling. The projects focused on different topics within cardiovascular research, such as cerebral blood flow modelling using computational fluid dynamics and statistical analysis of the relationship between ectopic beats and heart rate variability.

Rachel began her PhD in 2015 under the supervision of Dr Rebecca Shipley and Dr James Phillips, and will be working on developing a mathematical model which describes the coordinated patterning of nerves and blood vessels, during development and repair.

Rachel is funded through UCL CoMPLEX and the British Heart Foundation.

Qualifications

• MRes Modelling Biological Complexity, University College London (2015)
• BA (Hons) Mathematics, University of Cambridge (2013)

Publications

• Coy R.H., Evans O.E., Phillips, J.B., Shipley, R.J. (2016). An integrated theoretical-experimental approach to accelerate translational tissue engineering. Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine DOI: 10.1002/term.2346

Conference Proceedings

• Coy, R., Kennedy, G., Kayal, C., O’Rourke, C., Kingham, P., Phillips, J., & Shipley, R. J. (2016). A mathematical model informed by in vitro experiments to advance engineered nerve repair construct design. In European Cells and Materials Vol. 32 (pp. 36). University College London: European Cells & Materials Ltd.
• Kennedy, G., Coy, R., Kayal, C., O’Rourke, C., Kingham, P., Shipley, R. J., & Phillips, J. (2016). In vitro experiments to inform cell seeding strategies and parameterize a mathematical model for peripheral nerve repair. In European Cells and Materials Vol. 32 (pp. 21). University College London: European Cells & Materials Ltd.
• Coy, R., Kennedy, G., Kayal, C., O’Rourke, C., Kingham, P., Phillips, J., & Shipley, R. J. (2016). A joint theoretical-experimental approach to investigate the effects of low oxygen environments upon therapeutic cell viability and VEGF production. In European Cells and Materials Vol. 31 (pp. 174). Sweden: European Cells & Materials Ltd.