Mathematics in Medical and Life Sciences

Alongside a well-established body of mathematical, theoretical and computational biology literature, as these disciplines have grown rapidly in the 21st Century, progressively more research has been communicated in non-mathematically focused domain-specific journals, as well as an increasing number of multidisciplinary journals.

The major advantage of publishing beyond the mathematics literature is greater visibility to non-mathematically specialist ‘end-users’, thereby increasing impact, however these venues often require significant compromises in the level of detail and prominence that can be given to mathematical content. The increasing use of online supplementary information often means that essential mathematical methodology is de-emphasized, to the detriment of dissemination and potentially also side-stepping peer review.

From discussions with leading mathematicians in fields such as biomechanics, electrophysiology, cancer modelling, epidemiology and ecology, it became clear that there is a need for a journal which can bridge the gap between the mathematically- and application-focused literature.

Our vision is a multidisciplinary journal in which mathematics, statistics and computational modelling is applied across the breadth of medicine, biology and wider life sciences, compromising neither methodological completeness and clarity, nor biological relevance and exposition.

We will support authors to ensure model setup, development, findings and uncertainties are explained and visualized in a way that is meaningful to the target community. Alongside requiring the highest standards of exposition, we will regularly invite commentary and review from domain communities as well as mathematicians. We aim thereby to facilitate the publication of cutting-edge research, and further to increase engagement with mathematics across its many diverse applications.

Taylor & Francis are currently supporting a 100% APC discount for all authors until the end of 2024, plus VAT or other local taxes where applicable in your country. There is no submission charge.

Dave Smith is Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Birmingham, UK, specializing in biological fluid dynamics and applying mathematical modelling to interpret medical data.

Dave conducted his Applied Mathematics PhD in Birmingham with Eamonn Gaffney and John Blake, modelling flow profiles in the cilia sublayer of the airway surface liquid and resolving apparent discrepancies between imaging data and theoretical understanding. Following his PhD, Dave began a long-standing collaboration with Jackson Kirkman-Brown of Birmingham Women’s Fertility Centre and Birmingham Medical School (later also with Meurig Gallagher), studying sperm motility, defects in which underlie many cases of male infertility.

Initially as a Research Fellow funded by the Wellcome Trust and the MRC, then as a PI funded by the EPSRC, Dave and his collaborators elucidated changes to flagellar movement that enable sperm to move through the highly viscous and non-Newtonian fluids and labyrinthine environment of the female reproductive tract, translating these technologies for clinical use.

Collaborating with Susana Lopes, Lisbon, Dave’s group developed mechanical and statistical models of the generation and transduction of the earliest laterality-establishing events in zebrafish. Dave has also contributed to multidisciplinary studies of systems, including blood flow, hydrocortisone replacement, biological spectroscopy and plant pollen tube growth.