Dr Kaouri will present various interdisciplinary challenges which she has been working on, in collaboration with experimentalists, industry and policymakers. She will first present her mathematical models of calcium signalling in embryogenesis which can shed light on embryo malformations such as Spina Bifida.

She will then discuss how Maths can help improve success rates in IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) which thousands of women undertake each year, with low success rates. Dr Kaouri will finally relay her work on modelling viral transmission in indoor spaces, which was used during the pandemic to advise the Welsh government. With collaborators at Cardiff and Oxford universities she continues developing models that will get us betted prepared for any future epidemics.

Dr Katerina Kaouri is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Applied Mathematics at Cardiff University. She is also the Director for Impact and Engagement at the Cardiff School of Maths. She holds a DPhil in Applied Mathematics from Oxford University, in which she modelled the sound from supersonic aeroplanes in collaboration with AIRBUS. She has subsequently worked for some years in industry before returning to academia. Katerina has been working on a range of interdisciplinary research challenges mainly from biology and medicine, and in collaboration with businesses and society.

She has also been involved in several public engagement activities such as the SciShops.eu project where 18 organisations in 12 EU countries tackled pressing societal challenges. She is also the co-founder and coordinator of the CY Study Groups with Industry, week-long modelling workshops (part of the European Study Groups with Industry series). She co-founded the non-profit SciCo Cyprus and the Mediterranean Science Festival to bring science to the public and she is a TEDx Speaker and a TED-Ed educator with millions of views.

During the pandemic she led a team working on COVID-19 modelling, in collaboration with Oxford University, and participated in the Technical Advisory Group advising the Welsh government on the pandemic response. She was nominated as Woman of the Year 2021 in Cyprus, in the category `Innovation’.