Dr Meurig Thomas Gallagher FHEA

Dr Meurig Gallagher

School of Mathematics
Assistant Professor
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) Research Person Responsible (Centre #0209)

Contact details

Email
m.t.gallagher@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
Address
Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research (IMSR)
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK
New technique will help experts make heads or tails of male fertility

Meurig integrates mathematical modelling and software with experimental methods to create new diagnostics and treatments for infertility, and also tackle wider healthcare applications using his comprehensive interdisciplinary approach.

Based in the Medical School, Meurig holds a joint post across Department of Metabolism and Systems Science (MSS), Mathematics and Computer Science, and is the University 麻豆精选’s Person Responsible for their HFEA Research Licence (Centre 0209). He holds a national leadership role, having been elected to the Executive of the Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists (ARCS, January 2023), the professional body and learned society for the field.

A key focus of Meurig's research revolves around understanding more about the sperm flagellum via the creation and development of the package FAST (), a tool that enables rapid, affordable analysis of the moving flagellum of the sperm. FAST is deployed with international clinical collaborators to understand key questions surrounding the role sperm factors play in the outcomes of fertility treatment, as well as to understand more general aspects of sperm function across species. It was noted as an emerging technology by the World Health Organisation in their 2021 semen analysis manual.

Meurig is currently Mechanistic lead for the , where he is looking at the role of sperm in fertility treatment. As part of the Centre for Human Reproductive Science, Meurig and his collaborators are immersed in day-to-day interaction with the care teams across reproduction and their patients. These direct links to the diverse communities our care team treat across the Midlands and UK are vital in the co-design and evolution of our work.

Meurig is an Assistant Professor in the Centre for Systems Modelling and Quantitative Biomedicine, where he is Theme Lead for Endocrinology, Metabolism and Reproduction. In this role he provides mentorship for theme members, and acts as a bridge between the Centre’s quantitative expertise and the wider MSS.

Alongside other ChRS team members, Meurig has a passion for making the medical science and clinical trials we undertake accessible and relevant, not only though patient co-design with underserved communities, but also through harnessing opportunities to provide public engagement with our work. This has included a permanent museum exhibition, and an ongoing partnership to try and create a global training tool for IFFS (International Federation of Fertility Societies), the non-state actor for the World Health Organisation.

Qualifications

  • Iwan Lewis Jones Young Scientist Prize, 2018
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, 2018
  • PhD Applied Mathematics, University 麻豆精选, 2015
  • MMath Applied Mathematics, University of Nottingham, 2011

Teaching

Semester 1

  • LH/LM Advanced Mathematical Modelling (Mathematics)

Semester 2

  • LI Neuroscience, Endocrinology and Reproduction
  • BSc Biomedical Science Research Projects
  • BSc Human Biology Research Projects

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Gallagher supervises an excellent team, looking at problems across fertility, endocrinology and mathematics. His current research projects include:

  • healthcare science projects aimed at improving male diagnostics for fertility treatment;
  • understanding societal aspects of reproduction including how best to educate; computationally modelling the swimming sperm cell in non-Newtonian fluid environments;
  • and using asymptotic models together with Bayesian inference to understand treatment regimens for adrenal insufficient patients.

Meurig currently has a fully funded place for an excellent UK candidate to study a PhD in Applied Mathematics. Suggested projects can be found in the below Find-a-PhD links (see opportunities for study), but he is interested in discussing other projects and interests.

PhD opportunities

Research

Research Themes

  • Human sperm motility and its role in male-factor infertility; integrating mathematical and computational modelling, microscopy, image analysis and outcomes-liked clinical data.
  • Numerical methods and tools for simulation on the microscale; including open source algorithms for Stokes flow; elastohydrodynamics; complex rheology; and parallel computing

Collaborative Research

  • Environmental and biochemical effects on animal sperm motility
  • Mathematical model-driven clinical-decision making; with applications such as hyperthyroidism, measurable residual disease prediction
  • The role of fatty acids in the pathophysiology of obesity-related type 2 diabetes

Other activities

  • Meurig's research has been featured in the , , , and .
  • Member of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
  • Passionate about the dissemination of his work, and was lucky enough to be a finalist in the STEM4Britain 2018 competition.
  • Meurig has led the image-analysis portion of a team who designed and installed the MICROBOTS: The future of Healthcare exhibit at the ThinkTank science museum in Birmingham, come have a visit, you'll find us in the Futures Gallery!

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Newman-Sanders, A, Kirkman-Brown, J & Gallagher, MT 2024, '', Reproductive BioMedicine Online, vol. 48, no. 1, 103623.

Gallagher, MT, Kirkman-Brown, J & Smith, D 2023, '', PNAS nexus, vol. 2, no. 3, pgad072.

Bisconti, M, Leroy, B, Gallagher, MT, Senet, C, Martinet, B, Arcadia, V, Wattiez, R, Kirkman-Brown, J, Simon, J-F & Hennebert, E 2022, '', Frontiers in cell and developmental biology, vol. 10, 965076.

Gallagher, MT & Smith, D 2021, '', Royal Society Open Science, vol. 8, no. 5, 210108.

Smith, D, Gallagher, MT, Schuech, R & Montenegro-Johnson, T 2021, '', Fluids, vol. 6, no. 11, 411.

Neal, C, Hall-McNair, A, Kirkman-Brown, J, Smith, D & Gallagher, MT 2020, '', Physical Review Fluids, vol. 5, no. 7, 073101 .

Gallagher, MT & Smith, D 2020, '', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 378, no. 2179, 20190528.

Gallagher, MT, Montenegro-Johnson, T & Smith, D 2020, '', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, vol. 375, no. 1792, 20190161.

Hall-McNair, A, Montenegro-Johnson, T, Gad锚lha, H, Smith, D & Gallagher, MT 2019, '', Physical Review Fluids, vol. 4, no. 11, 113101, pp. 113101-1 - 113101-24.

Gallagher, MT, Wain, R, Dari, S, Whitty, J & Smith, D 2019, '', Journal of Biomechanics, vol. 85, pp. 230-238.

Conference contribution

Cupples, G, Gallagher, MT, Smith, D & Kirkman-Brown, J 2021, . in L Bj枚rndahl, J Flanagan, R Holmberg & U Kvist (eds), XIIIth International Symposium on Spermatology. Springer, Cham, pp. 135-150.

Review article

Gallagher, MT, Roxburgh, E, Bennett, G, Parker, S & Kirkman-Brown, J 2024, '', Reproductive BioMedicine Online, vol. 49, no. 6, 104373.

Thomas, P, Gallagher, MT & Da Silva Xavier, G 2023, '', Frontiers in Endocrinology, vol. 14, 1275835.

Gallagher, MT, Krasauskaite, I & Kirkman-Brown, J 2023, '', Seminars in Reproductive Medicine, vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 273-278.

Baldi, E, Gallagher, MT, Krasnyak, S, Kirkman-Brown, J & Editorial Board members of the World Health Organization laboratory manual for the examination and processing of human semen 2022, '', Fertility and Sterility, vol. 117, no. 2, pp. 252-257.