Kieran Sharkey

My PhD was in theoretical physics and my research focus is on understanding complex systems, particularly those underpinned by network structure. Examples of these systems include epidemic contact networks, metabolic networks, the internet and transportation networks.

I have gradually moved towards applying mathematics to describe and understand biological systems. Much of my applied work has been in epidemiology with applications in human and animal infectious diseases. A more recent focus is on mathematics applied to wider healthcare problems such as antimicrobial resistance. Another current area of interest is the development of mathematical descriptions of evolution. From an application perspective, understanding evolutionary dynamics is important for understanding the emergence of antimicrobial resistance as well as the evolution of virus such as Influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2.