Principal Investigator
Chiu Fan Lee
Mini bio: I obtained a Joint Honours Degree in Mathematics and Physics from McGill University in 2000, completing an Honours Thesis on number theory and elliptic curves. I then pursued a Master of Advanced Study in Mathematics at the University of Cambridge (2001), specialising in quantum information theory and theoretical physics, followed by a DPhil in Physics at the University of Oxford (2005). After my doctorate, I remained in Oxford as a research fellow, during which I gradually transitioned my focus towards biological physics. I subsequently joined the Biological Physics Division at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden before taking up a lectureship at Imperial College London in 2012. I am currently co-Director of the Imperial Network of Excellence in Physics of Life and serve on the committee of the Institute of Physics Biological Physics Group. [CV]

PhD students

Sulaimaan Lim (1st supervisor: Julien Vermot)

Alastar Phelan

Sam Whitby (2nd supervisor: Tom Ouldridge)

Matthew Wong

MRes/MEng students

Mark Arditi Mizrak (MEng)

Andre Johannesen Lopez (MEng)

Brandon Kim (MRes)

Yueyang Liu (MRes)

ALUMNI

Postdoctoral Researchers

Dr Shalabh Anand (Leverhulme Trust funded, 2020-2022)

Dr Andrea Cairoli (1851 Exhibition Research Fellow, 2015-2019)

PhD students

BEng, MEng, MSc and MRes students

  • Amida Anand (MRes, 2025)
    • A Tale of Two Criticalities: How the Brain Learns through the lens of Criticality

  • Daniel Reti (MRes, 2025)
    • Haematopoietic stem cell motility protects against clonal haematopoiesis
     Prize: Best Academic Performance
    (co-supervisor: Cristina Lo Celso)

  • Kaan Aksoy (MEng, 2025)
    • Optimization of Chemotherapy Dosage for Leukemia Patients

  • Darshini Prem (MEng, 2025)
    • Mathematically Modelling Disease Progression in Parkinson’s Patients

  • Yunpeng Tao (MEng, 2025)
    • Modeling Antibiotic Resistance Dynamics : Multi-Factor Analysis Including Bacterial Conjugation and Immune Control

  • Ella Stanbury (MEng, 2024)
    • Alzheimer’s Disease: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis for Emerging Drug Donanemab

  • Jay Sivasirikarul (MEng, 2022)
    • A Study on Pattern Formation in Zebrafish

  • Tarane Subramaniam (MEng, 2022)
    • Project: Modelling the Motility and Proliferative Dynamics of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in the Bone Marrow

  • Amar Dhanda (MEng, 2021)
    • Project: Modelling Clinical Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease: 68% of Demented Participant’s are expected to transition from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Severe Alzheimer’s Disease within 4 years 5 months

  • Conor Murphy (MSc, 2021)
    • Project: Evidence for a dominant Haematopoietic Stem Cell Megakaryocyte-CXCL12 Abundant Reticular Cell-Sinusoid Localisation in the Murine Bone Marrow
    (co-supervisor: Prof Cristina Lo Celso)

  • Joao Pereira (MEng, 2021)
    • Project: A Mapping Between The Renormalization Group and Deep Learning

  • Alisdair Stevenson (MEng, 2021)
    • Project: Biophysical Modelling of the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease

  • Taoran Feng, Xueyan Li, Nina Rimsky, Clara Rodrigo Gonzalez, Wasim Silmi, and Nicholas Simpson,
    (3rd year MEng group project, 2019)
    • Project: Physiological monitoring of anesthetised mouse
    (co-supervisor: Dr Cristina Lo Celso)

  • Khalid Alfanney, Nikolaos Katsis, Praneeth Vedagiri, Samuel Bradley, Sarah Pizem, and Thibault Mercier
    (3rd year MEng group project, 2019)
    • Project: Physiological monitoring of anesthetised mouse
    (co-supervisor: Dr Cristina Lo Celso)

  • Ali Malik, George Meek, Peter Miller, Joshua Pope, Paul Roever, Kwarteng Sarfo, and Matthew Sargent
    (3rd year MEng group project, 2018)
    • Project: Physiological monitoring of anesthetised mouse [device design can be found here]
    Award: Best poster presentation by academic vote
    (co-supervisor: Dr Cristina Lo Celso)

  • Mathilde Placek (MEng, 2018)
    • Project: Computational modelling of wound healing

  • Tara Hameed (MRes in Life Sciences, 2018)
    • Project: Dynamics of stem cells in the mouse bone marrow
    (co-supervisor: Dr Cristina Lo Celso)

  • Ibrahim Asim (BEng, 2017)
    • Project: Music of the cell
    (co-supervisor: Prof Kim Parker)

  • Cédric de Bras De Fer (visiting student from the Grenoble Institute of Technology, summer 2016)
    • Project: Monte Carlo simulation of peptides

  • Xiao Yao (MEng, 2016)
    • Project: Computational Modelling of Morphological Dynamics in Arabidopsis Thaliana

  • Maria Bogdanov (MEng exchange student from Grenoble, 2016)
    • Project: Music of the cell
    (co-supervisor: Prof Kim Parker)

  • Boonyisa Boonthongrungtawee (BEng, 2016)
    • Project: Modelling the tearing situations of an Anterior Cruciate Ligament

  • George Taylor (BEng, 2016)
    • Project: The Kinetics of Amyloid Fibril Elongation

  • Christopher Morris (MSc, 2015)
    • Project: Alzheimer’s disease: decreased cell control of ion transport

  • Simone Cenci (Erasmus student, 2015)
    • Project: A field-theoretical approach to the non-universal properties of non-equilibrium stationary states (co-supervisor: Dr Gunnar Pruessner)
  • Ching Liu (Imperial College UROP student, summer 2015)
    • Project: Tissue growth: A simulation study

  • Thibault Enderlé (MSc, 2014)
    • Project: Morphological dynamics in self-repairing tissues
    (co-supervisor: Dr Giovanni Sena)

  • Xiao Yao (Imperial College UROP student, summer 2014)
    • Project: Tissue growth: A simulation study

  • Bertrand Lacroix-à-chez-toine (visiting student from the Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University, summer 2014)
    • Project: Interfacial instability in active matter

  • Veena Salim (visiting student from the National University of Singapore, summer 2014)
    • Project: The von Willibrand factors under shear flow

  • Romain Blanc (visiting student from the Grenoble Institute of Technology, summer 2014)
    • Project: Kinetics of amyloid fibril elongation

  • Ugonna Urji (BEng, 2013)
    Project: Cell division by design
    Award: Best BEng project poster as voted for by the industrial visitors on the presentation day

  • Yuqiao Zheng (MSc, 2012)
    Project: Measuring the porosity structure and permeability of the mineralised tissue supporting the articular cartilage layer in a mouse model of osteoarthritis disease
    (co-supervisor: Dr Massimo Marenzana)