Welcome to the PUMMA webpage. As our name implies, we work on how modelling, monitoring and analysis can be used to give insight into physiological processes and to help clinicians to make better decisions in patient care.

Our main interest is in blood flow in the brain: how it is controlled, how we can measure it and how the brain copes with interruptions to this supply (as in stroke and dementia). We do this by building computational models that link to experimental measurements, which we also analyse in detail, and trying to help clinicians to understand what is happening and to develop means of testing and interpreting data. Frequently, it is this combination between modelling and analysis that helps to get maximum clinical value as we combine what we know in the model with what we are measuring.

The techniques that we use for the brain can also be used in other areas. The other main project that we work on is in foetal health care, trying to determine which foetuses are most at risk of poor outcomes at birth. We also work in the areas of liver cancer (modelling the killing of liver tumours to help clinicians plan their treatment) and respiration (modelling gas flows to help to diagnose patients with lung disease).

We are based at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) next to the Churchill Hospital and can most easily be contacted through the group head, Dr. Stephen Payne. Do contact him if you are interested in the group's work or want copies of our publications.