Prof. Gibin Powathil

I am currently a Professor of Mathematics at the Department of Mathematics, Swansea University, United Kingdom. My primary research interests are in Mathematical Biology and Mathematical Oncology. In particular, I am interested in multiscale mathematical modelling of cancer and associated therapies, which will eventually help towards Model Assisted Personalised Medicine. These mathematical and computational models can be very helpful in gaining valuable insights into the mechanisms and consequences of various complex intracellular and intercellular changes during and after therapy.

I received my PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Canada and my thesis was on mathematical modelling of brain tumours. I have a MS in Computational Mathematics from National University of Singapore and MSc in Mathematics from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Prior to this post I was working with Professor Mark Chaplain, Division of Mathematics, University of Dundee, Scotland as a postdoctoral research assistant.

I am currently the Secretary of the Society for Mathematical Biology, Deputy Co-Director of Centre for Biomathematics at Swansea University and on the editorial boards of Journal of Theoretical Biology and Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering.

1. Mohammadrezaei, D., Moghimi, N., Vandvajdi, S., Powathil, G., Hamis, S., & Kohandel, M. (2023). Predicting and elucidating the post-printing behavior of 3D printed cancer cells in hydrogel structures by integrating in-vitro and in-silico experiments. Scientific Reports, 13(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28286-9.

2. Spinicci, K., Jacquet, P., Powathil, G., & Stéphanou, A. (2022). Modeling the role of HIF in the regulation of metabolic key genes LDH and PDH: Emergence of Warburg phenotype. Computational and Systems Oncology, 2(3). doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/cso2.1040.
   
3. Brüningk, S. & Powathil, G. (2022). Modelling Direct and Indirect Effects of Radiation: Experimental, Clinical and Environmental Implications. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series A: Chemistry and Biology (pp. 69-87). Springer Netherlands. doi: 10.1007/978-94-024-2101-9_5.
4. Hamis, S., Yates, J., Chaplain, M. A., & Powathil, G. G. (2021). Targeting cellular DNA damage responses in cancer: An in vitro-calibrated agent-based model simulating monolayer and spheroid treatment responses to ATR-inhibiting drugs. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 83(10). doi: 10.1007/s11538-021-00935-y.
5. Liu, R., Higley, K. A., Swat, M. H., Chaplain, M. A., Powathil, G. G., & Glazier, J. A. (2021). Development of a coupled simulation toolkit for computational radiation biology based on Geant4 and CompuCell3D. Physics in Medicine & Biology, 66(4), 045026.doi:10.1088/1361-6560/abd4f9.
6. Hamis, S., Stratiev, S., & Powathil, G. G. (2021). Uncertainty and sensitivity analyses methods for agent-based mathematical models: An introductory review. THE PHYSICS OF CANCER: Research Advances, 1-37. doi: 10.1142/9789811223495_0001.
7. Hamis, S., Kohandel, M., Dubois, L. J., Yaromina, A., Lambin, P., & Powathil, G. G. (2020). Combining hypoxia-activated prodrugs and radiotherapy in silico: Impact of treatment scheduling and the intra-tumoural oxygen landscape. PLoS computational biology, 16(8), e1008041. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008041.
8. Mothersill, C., Oughton, D., Schofield, P., Abend, M., Adam-Guillermin, C., Ariyoshi, K., Beresford, N., Bonisoli-Alquati, A., Cohen, J., Dubrova, Y., Geras’kin, S., Hevrøy, T., Higley, K., Horemans, N., Jha, A., Kapustka, L., Kiang, J., Madas, B., Powathil, G…., & Wood, M. (2020). From tangled banks to toxic bunnies; a reflection on the issues involved in developing an ecosystem approach for environmental radiation protection. International Journal of Radiation Biology, 1-16.doi:10.1080/09553002.2020.1793022.
9. Stéphanou, A., Ballet, P., & Powathil, G. (2020). Hybrid data-based modelling in oncology: successes, challenges and hopes. Mathematical Modelling of Natural Phenomena, 15, 21.doi:10.1051/mmnp/2019026.
10. Hamis, S., & Powathil, G. (2020). Can we crack cancer?. In The art of theoretical biology (pp. 50-51). Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-33471-0_25.
11. Meaney, C., Powathil, G. G., Yaromina, A., Dubois, L. J., Lambin, P., & Kohandel, M. (2019). Role of Hypoxia-Activated Prodrugs in Combination With Radiation Therapy: An in silico Approach. Mathematical biosciences and engineering: MBE, 16(6), 6257-6273. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2019312.
12. Hamis, Sara., Powathil, Gibin G.. & Chaplain, Mark A.J.. (2019). Blackboard to Bedside: A Mathematical Modeling Bottom-Up Approach Towards Personalized Cancer Treatments. JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics(3), 1-11. doi:10.1200/CCI.18.00068
13. Mothersill, Carmel., Abend, Michael., Bréchignac, Francois., Copplestone, David., Geras’kin,Stanislav., Goodman, Jessica., Horemans, Nele., Jeggo, Penny., McBride, William., Mousseau,Timothy A.., O’Hare, Anthony., Papineni, Rao V.L.., Powathil, Gibin., Schofield, Paul N..,  Seymour,Colin.,  Sutcliffe, Jill. & Austin, Brian. (2019). The tubercular badger and the uncertain curve:- The need for a multiple stressor approach in environmental radiation protection. Environmental Research 168, 130-140. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2018.09.031
14. Hamis, Sara., Nithiarasu, Perumal. & Powathil, Gibin G.. (2018). What does not kill a tumour may make it stronger: In silico insights into chemotherapeutic drug resistance. Journal of Theoretical Biology 454, 253-267. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.06.014
15. Kim, Yangjin., Kang, Hyunji., Powathil, Gibin., Kim, Hyeongi., Trucu, Dumitru., Lee, Wanho., Lawler,Sean. & Chaplain, Mark. (2018). Role of extracellular matrix and microenvironment in regulation of tumor growth and LAR-mediated invasion in glioblastoma. PLOS ONE 13(10), e0204865.  doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0204865
16. Bowness, Ruth., Chaplain, Mark A.J.., Powathil, Gibin G.. & Gillespie, Stephen H.. (2018). Modelling the effects of bacterial cell state and spatial location on tuberculosis treatment: Insights from a hybrid multiscale cellular automaton model. Journal of Theoretical Biology 446, 87-100. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.03.006
17. Mothersill, Carmel., Abend, Michael., Bréchignac, François., Iliakis, George., Impens, Nathalie.,Kadhim,Munira., Møller, AndersPape.,  Oughton, Deborah.,  Powathil, Gibin., Saenen, Eline.,Seymour, Colin., Sutcliffe, Jill., Tang, Fen-Ru. & Schofield, Paul N.. (2018). When a duck is not a duck; a new interdisciplinary synthesis for environmental radiation protection. Environmental Research 162, 318-324.  doi:10.1016/j.envres.2018.01.022
18. Brüningk, S.., Powathil, G.., Ziegenhein, P.., Ijaz, J.., Rivens, I.., Nill, S.., Chaplain, M.., Oelfke, U.. & ter Haar, G.. (2018). Combining radiation with hyperthermia: a multiscale model informed by in vitro experiments. Journal of The Royal Society Interface 15(138), 20170681. doi:10.1098/rsif.2017.0681
19. Borasi, Giovanni., Nahum, Alan., Paulides, MargarethusM., Powathil, Gibin., Russo, Giorgio.,Fariselli, Laura., Lamia, Debora., Cirincione, Roberta., Forte, Giusi Irma., Borrazzo, Cristian.,Caccia, Barbara., di Castro, Elisabetta., Pozzi, Silvia. & Gilardi, Maria Carla. (2016). Fast and high temperature hyperthermia coupled with radiotherapy as a possible new treatment for glioblastoma. Journal of Therapeutic Ultrasound 4(1). doi:10.1186/s40349-016-0078-3
20. Powathil, Gibin G.., Munro, Alastair J.., Chaplain, Mark A.J.. & Swat, Maciej. (2016). Bystander effects and their implications for clinical radiation therapy: Insights from multiscale in silico experiments. Journal of Theoretical Biology 401, 1-14. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2016.04.010
21. Kim, Yangjin., Powathil, Gibin., Kang, Hyunji., Trucu, Dumitru., Kim, Hyeongi., Lawler, Sean. & Chaplain, Mark. (2015). Strategies of Eradicating Glioma Cells: A Multi-Scale Mathematical Model with MiR-451-AMPK-mTOR Control. PLOS ONE 10(1), e0114370. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0114370
22. Chaplain, M. & Powathil, G. (2015). Multiscale modelling of cancer progression and treatment control: The role of intracellular heterogeneities in chemotherapy treatment. Biophysical Reviews and Letters. doi:10.1142/S1793048015500058
23. Powathil, G., Chaplain, M. & Swat, M. (2014). Investigating the development of chemotherapeutic drug resistance in cancer: multiscale computational study. (preprint). arXiv.org. http://arxiv.org/abs/1407.0865
24. Powathil, G. & Chaplain, M. (2014) A Hybrid Multiscale Approach in Cancer Modelling and Treatment Prediction. In A. D’onofrio and A. Gandolfi (Ed.), Mathematical Oncology 2013. (pp. 237-263). Birkhauser. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-0458-7_8
25. Powathil, G., Swat, M. & Chaplain, M. (2014). Systems oncology: Towards patient-specific treatment regimes informed by multiscale mathematical modelling. Seminars in Cancer Biology. doi:10.1016/j.semcancer.2014.02.003
26. Powathil, G., Adamson, D. & Chaplain, M. (2013). Towards Predicting the Response of a Solid Tumour to Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy Treatments: Clinical Insights from a Computational Model. PLoS Computational Biology 9(7), e100312. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003120
27. Powathil, G., Thompson, A. & Chaplain, M. (2012). The role of cellular heterogeneity on the therapeutic response of breast cancer: Clinical insights from a hybrid multiscale computational model. Cancer Research 72(24 Supplement), P5-05-02-P5-05-02.  doi:10.1158/0008-5472.SABCS12-P5-05-02
28. Powathil, G., Gordon, K., Hill, L. & Chaplain, M. (2012). Modelling the effects of cell-cycle heterogeneity on the response of a solid tumour to chemotherapy: Biological insights from a hybrid multiscale cellular automaton model. Journal of Theoretical Biology 308, 1-19. doi:10.1016/j.jtbi.2012.05.015
29. Powathil, G., Kohandel, M., Milosevic, M. & Sivaloganathan, S. (2012). Modeling the Spatial Distribution of Chronic Tumor Hypoxia: Implications for Experimental and Clinical Studies. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine 2012, 1-11. doi:10.1155/2012/410602
30. Powathil, G., Kohandel, M., Sivaloganathan, S., Oza, A. & Milosevic, M. (2007). Mathematical modeling of brain tumors: effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Physics in Medicine and Biology 52(11), 3291-3306. doi:10.1088/0031-9155/52/11/023

Other Research Outputs

• Powathil, G. (2009). Modelling of brain tumours: Effects of microenvironment and associated therapeutic strategies . https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/4738
• Powathil, G. (2004). A heat and mass transfer model for bread baking: an investigation using numerical schemes . http://scholarbank.nus.sg/handle/10635/14601

Current PhD Students

Kira Pugh

Kévin Spinicci

Sam Oliver

Carlos Baptista De Lima (second supervisor)

Aeshah Mohammed A AlMuyid (second supervisor)

Amy Milne (second supervisor)

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Dr Carla White

Former PhD Students

Dr Sara Hamis

Dr Carla White

• Multiscale modelling of glioma growth and treatments
• Modelling the effects of tumour heterogeneities on tumour growth and treatment responses
• Multiscale modelling of cancer and its treatments
• Modelling drug resistance and its implications in cell-cycle phase specific chemotherapy
• Modelling radiation bystander effects and its implications in clinical radiotherapy
• Modelling intracellular signalling pathways involved in cancer progression

2021