School of Biological Sciences
Royal Holloway University of London
Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX
United Kingdom

Tel: 01784-443179
Fax: 01784-414224
E-mail: vincent.jansen@rhul.ac.uk

The research in the Mathematical Biology group is about the formulation and analysis of mathematical models to understand how biological systems work, and how they evolve. There is research into topics in the following areas

There are a number of themes that we cover in the area of evolution. We have studied the evolution of altruism, and how recognition can facilitate the evolution of altruism and cooperation (Beard chromodynamics: Jansen and van Baalen 2006, van Baalen and Jansen 2003). Evolution in patchy environments was studied by describing the slow change the composition of patches that competition will cause. The model combines within-patch dynamics with dispersal between patches which allows for kin or group selection to occur. This model differs from other models for kin selection in that a realistic description of the local dynamics can be given, while at the same time it remains tractable to analysis. This was used to study the evolution of diversity (Jansen and Mulder 1999), the formation of guilds (Bonsall et al. 2004) and the evolution of dispersal (Jansen and Vitalis 2007). We are also interested in the evolution of pathogens (e.g. Gandon et al. 2001, 2002, Stumpf et al. 2002).

We have investigated the effect of spatial interactions on population dynamics (Jansen 2001), how to analyse spatial models (Jansen and Lloyd 2000), and how to infer dispersal rates from the spatial variance in populations (Schneeberger and Jansen 2006). We have studied aphids’ dispersal and the effect on population dynamics (Oliver et al. 2007, Mashanova et al. 2008). We have modelled predators that eat many prey types, and the effect of polyphagy on population dynamics. There is particular expertise in understanding and characterising the dynamics of models by means of bifurcation theory (Jansen 2001, Ives et al. 2000, 2008)

We study the population biology of pathogens to shed light on the epidemiology of infectious diseases. We have modelled measles outbreaks to study the effect of a decrease in the uptake of the MMR vaccine (Jansen et al. 2003, Jansen and Stollenwerk 2005). We are also interested in more general questions, such as the interplay between disease spread and rumour spreading (EPSRC funded, also see AMORPH project), see our simulation movies.We are particularly interested in meningococcal disease. There are a number of unresolved but important questions concerning the epidemiology of this disease. What makes the disease occur in clusters and what determines the size of the clusters? What stops the outbreaks and what preventive treatment scheme is optimal to control the disease? Together with Nico Stollenwerk (Inst. Gulbenkian) and Martin Maiden (Univ of Oxford) we are trying to answer some of these questions (see eg Stollenwerk et al. 2004, Stollenwerk and Jansen 2003). With Robert Payne we have modelled bacteriophage therapy and confronted our models with experimental data (Payne and Jansen 2000, 2001, 2003, Cairns et al. 2008).

e have modelled the interaction between the immune system and viral pathogens (Funk et al. 2005, Wodarz and Jansen 2003, 2001, Korthals Altes et al. 2000, 2001, 2002). With Derek Macallan and Andrea Hegedus (St Georges Medical School) we are measuring and modelling lymphocyte dynamics.

Alizon S, Kucera M and Jansen V.A.A (2008) Competition between cryptic species explains variations in rates of lineage evolution. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA [request PDF reprint]

Ives, A.R, Einarsson, A., Jansen, V.A.A and Gardarsson A. (2008). High-amplitude fluctuations and alternative dynamical states of midges in Lake Myvatn. Nature 452: 84-87

Jansen V.A.A., van Baalen M. (2006) Altruism through beard chromodynamics. Nature 440: 663-666.

Jansen V.A.A. and Stumpf M.P.H. (2005) Making sense of evolution in an uncertain world Science 309: 2005-2007

M.B. Bonsall, V.A.A. Jansen and M.P. Hassell (2004) Life history trade-offs assemble ecological guilds. Science 306: 111-114

N. Stollenwerk, M.C.J. Maiden and V.A.A. Jansen (2004) Diversity in pathogenicity can cause outbreaks of meningococcal disease. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101: 10229-10234

V.A.A. Jansen, N. Stollenwerk, H.J. Jensen, M.E. Ramsay, W.J. Edmunds and C.J. Rhodes (2003) Measles outbreaks in a population with declining vaccine uptake. Science 301, 804

M.P.H. Stumpf, Z. Laidlaw and V.A.A. Jansen (2002) Herpes viruses hedge their bets. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 99, 15234-15237

M.A. Nowak, J.B. Plotkin and V.A.A. Jansen (2000) The evolution of syntactic communication. Nature 404, 495-498.

Click here for a full list of publications, many of them downloadable.

My Erdös number is 4.