Staff Profile

I am a Newcastle University Academic Track (NUAcT) Fellow in the School of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics and currently hold a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellowship. My research focuses on developing mathematical models for biological and ecological systems, including stem cell structures and threats to treescapes. I use a combination of agent-based models and stochastic differential equations, informed by Bayesian inference of real data.

I am keen to support and promote women in STEM, through outreach and EDI events, mentoring, and mixed methods research. I conduct studies exploring the lived experiences of gender minorities in mathematics and supervise student projects in this area.

Research interests:

• mathematical biology and ecology
• tree diseases
• invasive pests
• cellular biology 
• stem cells
• agent based modelling
• stochastic modelling
• parameter inference

• UG Summer projects 'Exploring the leaky pipeline of women in academic mathematics' (20/21, 21/22)
• PHY8005 Computational Research Skills in Physics, agent-based modelling mini-module (18/19, 19/20, 20/21) 
• PHY1032 Algebra, lecturer, module share (19/20)
• PARTNERS Summer School (19/20, 20/21)
• Python demonstrator MAS1803 and MAS2805 (20/21)
• MAS1081 Problem Solving, teaching assistant (19/20)
• MAS2802 Differential Equations, teaching assistant (18/19)

• Articles

  • Wadkin LE, Holden J, Ettelaie R, Holmes MJ, Smith J, Golightly A, Parker NG, Baggaley AW. Estimating the reproduction number, R₀, from individual-based models of tree disease spread. Ecological Modelling 2024, 489, 110630.
  • Wadkin LE, Golightly A, Branson J, Hoppit A, Parker NG, Baggaley AW. Quantifying Invasive Pest Dynamics through Inference of a Two-Node Epidemic Network Model. Diversity 2023, 15(4), 496.
  • Golightly A, Wadkin LE, Whitaker SA, Baggaley AW, Parker NG, Kypraios T. Accelerating Bayesian inference for stochastic epidemic models using incidence data. Statistics and Computing 2023, 33, 134.
  • Wadkin LE, Branson J, Hoppit A, Parker NG, Golightly A, Baggaley AW. Inference for epidemic models with time-varying infection rates: Tracking the dynamics of oak processionary moth in the UK. Ecology and Evolution 2022, 12(5), e8871.
  • Wadkin LE, Orozco-Fuentes S, Neganova I, Lako M, Barrio RA, Baggaley AW, Parker NG, Shukurov A. OCT4 expression in human embryonic stem cells: spatio-temporal dynamics and fate transitions. IOP Physical Biology 2021, 18(2), 026003.
  • Wadkin LE, Orozco-Fuentes S, Neganova I, Lako M, Parker NG, Shukurov A. A mathematical modelling framework for the regulation of intra-cellular OCT4 in human pluripotent stem cells. PLoS ONE 2021, 16(8), e0254991.
  • Wadkin LE, Orozco-Fuentes S, Neganova I, Lako M, Shukurov A, Parker NG. The recent advances in the mathematical modelling of human pluripotent stem cells. SN Applied Sciences 2020, 2, 276.
  • Wadkin LE, Orozco-Fuentes S, Neganova I, Bojic S, Laude A, Lako M, Parker NG, Shukurov A. Seeding hESCs to achieve optimal colony clonality. Scientific Reports 2019, 9(1), 15299.
  • Orozco-Fuentes S, Neganova I, Wadkin LE, Baggaley AW, Barrio RA, Shukurov AS, Parker NG. Quantification of the morphological characteristics of hESC colonies. Scientific Reports 2019, 9, 17569.
  • Wadkin LE, Orozco-Fuentes S, Neganova I, Swan G, Laude A, Lako M, Shukurov A, Parker NG. Correlated random walks of human embryonic stem cells in vitro. Physical Biology 2018, 15(5), 056006.
  • Wadkin LE, Elliot LF, Neganova I, Parker NG, Chichagova V, Swan G, Laude A, Lako M, Shukurov A. Dynamics of single human embryonic stem cells and their pairs: a quantitative analysis. Scientific Reports 2017, 7, 570.

• Note

  • Wadkin LE, Holden J, Ettelaie R, Holmes MJ, Smith J, Golightly A, Parker NG, Baggaley AW. Corrigendum to “Estimating the reproduction number, R₀, from individual-based models of tree disease spread” [Ecological Modelling 489 (2024) 110630] (Ecological Modelling (2024) 489, (S030438002400019X), (10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2024.110630)). Ecological Modelling 2024, 110634.

• Review

  • Wadkin LE, Makarenko I, Parker NG, Shukurov A, Figueiredo FC, Lako M. Human Stem Cells for Ophthalmology: Recent Advances in Diagnostic Image Analysis and Computational Modelling. Current Stem Cell Reports 2023, 9, 57-66.