Dr Alex Tam

ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher UniSA STEM

email Alex.Tam@unisa.edu.au

Alternative contact

Available for media comment
Research Degree Supervisor

About me

Applied Mathematics
Mathematical Biology
Biofilms

I use mathematical modelling to support research in the biological and physical sciences. Much of my work involves understanding the mechanics of biological cells, including elucidating how protein networks enable cell movement and division, modelling wound healing, and understanding how yeast and bacterial colonies grow.

I enjoy teaching students of all levels and backgrounds, and am an active member of the Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ANZIAM) division of the Australian Mathematical Society.

UniSA STEM

Harnessing connections across science, technology, engineering and mathematics, UniSA STEM creates innovative solutions and groundbreaking developments across teaching, learning and research.

Tweets by @UniversitySA

Research

Research focus

Mathematical Sciences
Biological Sciences
Physical Sciences
Applied Mathematics
Information and Computing Sciences

Research

Outputs

Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus

Open access indicates that an output is open access.

Highlights

Year	Output
2023	Tam, AK & Simpson, MJ 2023, 'Pattern formation and front stability for a moving-boundary model of biological invasion and recession', Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, vol. 444, article no. 133593, pp. 1-15. Open access 6 5 10
2022	Tam, AK, Harding, B, Green, JEF, Balasuriya, S & Binder, BJ 2022, 'Thin-film lubrication model for biofilm expansion under strong adhesion', Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, vol. 105, no. 1, article no. 014408, pp. 014408-1-014408-15. Open access 4 4 2
2021	Tam, AK, Mogilner, A & Oelz, DB 2021, 'Protein friction and filament bending facilitate contraction of disordered actomyosin networks', Biophysical Journal, vol. 120, no. 18, pp. 4029-4040. Open access 5 5 1
2019	Tam, A, Edward, JEF, Balasuriya, S, Tek, EL, Gardner, JM, Sundstrom, JF, Jiranek, V & Binder, BJ 2019, 'A thin-film extensional flow model for biofilm expansion by sliding motility', Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 475, no. 2229, pp. 1-21. Open access 10 10 6
2018	Tam, A, Green, JEF, Balasuriya, S, Tek, EL, Gardner, JM, Sundstrom, JF, Jiranek, V & Binder, BJ 2018, 'Nutrient-limited growth with non-linear cell diffusion as a mechanism for floral pattern formation in yeast biofilms', Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 448, pp. 122-141. Open access 15 15 5

Journal Articles

Year	Output
2025	Miller, T, Tam, AK, Marangell, R, Wechselberger, M & Bradshaw-Hajek, BH 2025, 'Shock selection in reaction-diffusion equations with partially negative diffusivity using nonlinear regularisation', Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, vol. 474, article no. 134561, pp. 1-14. Open access
2024	Li, K, Green, JEF, Tronnolone, H, Tam, AK, Black, AJ, Gardner, JM, Sundstrom, JF, Jiranek, V & Binder, BJ 2024, 'An off-lattice discrete model to characterise filamentous yeast colony morphology', PLoS Computational Biology, vol. 20, no. 11, article no. e1012605, pp. 1-20. Open access 7
2024	Miller, T, Tam, AKY, Marangell, R, Wechselberger, M & Bradshaw-Hajek, BH 2024, 'Analytic shock-fronted solutions to a reaction-diffusion equation with negative diffusivity', Studies in Applied Mathematics, vol. 153, no. 1, article no. e12685, pp. 1-23. Open access 2 2
2024	Simpson, MJ, Rahman, N & Tam, AK 2024, 'Front stability of infinitely steep travelling waves in population biology', Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, vol. 57, no. 31, article no. 315601, pp. 1-26. Open access 1
2023	Simpson, MJ, Rahman, N, McCue, SW & Tam, AK 2023, 'Survival, extinction, and interface stability in a two-phase moving boundary model of biological invasion', Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, 456, article no. 133912, pp. 1-18. Open access 2 2
2023	Tam, AK & Simpson, MJ 2023, 'Pattern formation and front stability for a moving-boundary model of biological invasion and recession', Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, vol. 444, article no. 133593, pp. 1-15. Open access 6 5 10
2022	Tam, AK & Simpson, MJ 2022, 'The effect of geometry on survival and extinction in a moving-boundary problem motivated by the Fisher-KPP equation', Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena, vol. 438, article no. 133305, pp. 1-8. Open access 6 4 1
2022	Tam, AK, Harding, B, Green, JEF, Balasuriya, S & Binder, BJ 2022, 'Thin-film lubrication model for biofilm expansion under strong adhesion', Physical Review E - Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, vol. 105, no. 1, article no. 014408, pp. 014408-1-014408-15. Open access 4 4 2
2022	Tam, AK, Mogilner, A & Oelz, DB 2022, 'F-actin bending facilitates net actomyosin contraction By inhibiting expansion with plus-end-located myosin motors', Journal of Mathematical Biology, vol. 85, no. 1, article no. 4, pp. 1-35. Open access 2 2
2021	Tam, AK, Mogilner, A & Oelz, DB 2021, 'Protein friction and filament bending facilitate contraction of disordered actomyosin networks', Biophysical Journal, vol. 120, no. 18, pp. 4029-4040. Open access 5 5 1
2019	Tam, A, Edward, JEF, Balasuriya, S, Tek, EL, Gardner, JM, Sundstrom, JF, Jiranek, V & Binder, BJ 2019, 'A thin-film extensional flow model for biofilm expansion by sliding motility', Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 475, no. 2229, pp. 1-21. Open access 10 10 6
2018	Tam, A, Green, JEF, Balasuriya, S, Tek, EL, Gardner, JM, Sundstrom, JF, Jiranek, V & Binder, BJ 2018, 'Nutrient-limited growth with non-linear cell diffusion as a mechanism for floral pattern formation in yeast biofilms', Journal of Theoretical Biology, vol. 448, pp. 122-141. Open access 15 15 5
2018	Tronnolone, H, Tam, A, Szenczi, Z, Green, J, Balasuriya, S, Tek, EL, Gardner, JM, Sundstrom, JF, Jiranek, V, Oliver, SG & Binder, BJ 2018, 'Diffusion-limited growth of microbial colonies', Scientific Reports, vol. 8, article no. 5992. Open access 30 26 8
2015	Tam, A, Yu, Z, Kelso, RM & Binder, BJ 2015, 'Predicting channel bed topography in hydraulic falls', Physics of Fluids, vol. 27, no. 11, article no. 112106. 9 11 3

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Organisation	Country
Flinders University	AUSTRALIA
New York University	UNITED STATES
Queensland University of Technology	AUSTRALIA
University of Adelaide	AUSTRALIA
University of Cambridge	UNITED KINGDOM
University of Queensland	AUSTRALIA
University of South Australia	AUSTRALIA
University of Sydney	AUSTRALIA
Victoria University of Wellington	NEW ZEALAND

External engagement & recognition

Engagement/recognition	Year
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Australian Research Council	2024
Invited Speaker: Applied and Computational Mathematics Seminar Series Queensland University of Technology	2022
Member National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)	2022
Member Australian Mathematical Society	2022
Member National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)	2021
Member Australian Mathematical Society	2021
Member Australian Mathematical Society	2020
Member National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)	2020
Member National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU)	2019
Member European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology	2019
Member Australian Mathematical Society	2019
Member Australian Mathematical Society	2018
Member European Society for Mathematical and Theoretical Biology	2018
Member Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics	2018
Member Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics	2017
Member Australian Mathematical Society	2017
Member Australian Mathematical Society	2016
Member Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics	2016
Member Engineers Australia	2015
Member Australian Mathematical Society	2015
Member Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences	2015

Teaching & student supervision

Research degree supervision

Supervisions from 2010 shown

Thesis title	Student status
208-Mathematical modelling and computation of biofilm growth and cell death	Current
213-Mathematical modelling of the extracellular actin scavenging system	Current
Pattern formation of precursor films: a new mathematical model	Current
Shocks in reaction-diffusion equations with negative diffusivity	Current

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Dr Alex Tam

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About me

About me

UniSA STEM

About me

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Research

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Outputs

Highlights

Journal Articles

External engagement & recognition

Collaborations

Collaborations

External engagement & recognition

Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)

Invited Speaker: Applied and Computational Mathematics Seminar Series

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Research degree supervision

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