Multiple sclerosis, or MS, affects millions of people worldwide, yet many aspects of the disease remain poorly understood. One of its defining characteristics is the way symptoms can fluctuate over time, with periods of relapse followed by remission. What drives these cycles, and why does the disease appear stable one moment before suddenly worsening the next?

In this episode, we speak with Dr Adrianne Jenner, Senior Lecturer in QUT’s School of Mathematical Sciences, about her latest research tackling this question through mathematics. Adrianne and her collaborators have developed a groundbreaking mathematical model that reproduces the relapsing-remitting patterns seen in MS, offering new insights into the biological processes that may underlie disease progression.

We also explore Adrianne’s broader work in mathematical oncology, where mathematical models are helping researchers better understand how cancers grow, evolve and respond to their environment. Along the way, we discuss the unique role mathematics can play in biology and medicine, and why collaboration between mathematicians and experimental scientists is becoming increasingly important in modern research.

Our host is Dr Haripriya Sridharan, a Research Fellow with MACSYS at The University of Melbourne.

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Adrianne’s website: https://www.adriannejenner.com/

QUT news story:  New maths model sheds light on multiple sclerosis relapse & recovery cycles

Publication in the Journal of Royal Society Interface: A mathematical model for inflammation and demyelination in multiple sclerosis

Publication on research into oncolytic virotherapy (cancer viruses) virtual clinical trial – in PLOS One Computational Biology: In silico clinical trials of BiTE expression by oncolytic viruses reveal the impact of patient heterogeneity on dosage protocol