Skip to: site menu | section menu | main content

Dr. Leah R. Johnson

NCSE, University of Cambridge
Currently viewing: L.R. Johnson » Research

Research Interests

Mathematical Biology

My primary research area is mathematical modeling of biological systems. I am particularly interested in ecology and evolution. My research projects focus on three major areas:

  • Effects of spacial heterogeneity, dispersal, and environmental stochasticity
    on population dynamics and population persistence

  • Optimal life history strategies

    • state based models
    • evolutionary games

  • Epidemiology, particularly infectious diseases


Curriculum Vitae

You can download a PDF version of my CV HERE.

Recent Papers

Johnson, L.R. Microcolony and Biofilm Formation as a Survival Strategy for Bacteria
Journal of Theoretical Biology, 251 (2008) pg 24-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2007.10.039
(technical report at: arXiv:q-bio.QM/0611087)


Johnson, L. R., and M. Mangel. Life histories and the evolution of aging in bacteria and other single-celled organisms. Mechanisms of Aging and Developement, 2006, Vol 127(10), pg 786-793.


L. R. Johnson, C. F. G. Thomas, P. Brain, and P. C. Jepson. Correction to: Aerial activity of linyphiid spiders: modelling dispersal distances from meteorology and behavior Journal of Applied Ecology, 2007, Vol 44, pg 1263

Technical Reports

A statistical framework for the adaptive management of epidemiological interventions. (2008) with Dan Merl, Robert Gramacy, and Marc Mangel. Duke working paper 08-29

R Packages

amei: Adaptive Management of Epidemiological Interventions. with Robert Gramacy, Dan Merl, and Marc Mangel.

Dissertation

In June 2006 I completed my Ph.D. at the University of California Santa Cruz, working with Marc Mangel in the Applied Math and Statistics Department. My dissertation is titled Mathematical Modeling of Cholera: from bacterial life histories to human epidemics. The dissertation is divided into three main chapters. First is a model of cholera in a human population that is coupled to an aquatic reservoir of cholera. The second explores a mathematical model bacterial life histories, particularly aging. Finally, I examine how different kinds of interactions between individual bacteria influence properties of V. cholerae bacterial communities.




Particle Physics and Astrophysics

I started my academic life as a physicist, with interests in particle physics and astrophysics. In 2002 I presented a poster entitled "Monte Carlo Studies on Proton Computed Tomography using a Silicon Strip Detector Telescope" at the IEEE MIC 2002 conference. Both my paper and poster are linked below. For list of other publications in physics see my CV .


pCT paper for IEEE NSS/MIC conference
pCT poster for IEEE NSS/MIC 2002

My Undergraduate Senior Honor's Thesis: "How Parallel are Parallel Universes"

Back to top