DrAhmad Mannan

My research interests lie at the interface between mathematics, molecular biology and synthetic biology. In particular, I have been developing mathematical models of the interplay between cell metabolism and its control by genetically encoded regulatory circuits, and use ideas from control theory to understand how interaction parameters and control circuit architecture affect the behaviour of these systems.

I am also interested in applying these models to understanding how to direct the design of synthetic genetic circuits, for applications in metabolic engineering (biochemical production) and synthetic biology.

Throughout my career I have enjoyed and benefited from working closely with experimentalists in UK, Japan and USA, and endeavour to make strong contributions to science through collaborative research.

Brief Bio:
I completed my undergraduate in MSci Mathematics from Imperial College London, and continued my interest in mathematical biology to pursue a PhD studentship in the field of Systems Biology, at the University of Surrey. The key contribution of my thesis was the construction of a kinetic model of the central carbon metabolism of E. coli. After continuing onto a short postdoc position at University of Surrey in the same area, I moved to the University of Aberdeen, UK, to pursue a postdoc where I was studying the metabolism of O. sativa (rice plant). Currently, I am a postdoc research associate in the Biomolecular control group of Dr. Diego Oyarzún, at the Department of Mathematics, where I am working on developing models to understand the control of cell metabolism, and how control circuit architecture and parameters affect the behaviour of these systems.