My name is Maxx Holmes, and I'm currently a third year PhD student at the University of Leeds. I work in the Computational Physiology Lab, where I dissect the multi-scale mechanisms of cardiovascular diseases through the development and use of computational models and tools. This is me hard at work!
I began my academic career at the University of Leeds, where I studied for a BSc in Physics, followed by a MSc in Data Science and Analytics. I leaned towards biophysics and bio-inspired computing through both of these degrees, having completed projects in molecular biophysics, genetic algorithms, and machine learning. I've always had an interest in cardiology and have been a BHF volunteer for a long time, and as such a cardiology-based computational project was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.
During my studies and personal projects I have gained a strong background in mathematical modelling and problem solving, and developed skills in scientific programming (Modelling/Simulation in C++, Data Processing & Visualisation in Python & R), as well as technologies such at QT in making my tools publicly available. This website started as a way for me to develop my coding skills further by foraying into HTML/CSS/JS and the Jekyll framework, to produce a digital platform for myself!
Outside of academia, I've spent time as a "semi-professional" gamer, having competed in multiple national LAN competitions in DotA 2 and Guitar Hero. I also love cooking, building things, keeping up with science (I do miss astrophysics!) and music - if there's a metal gig in Leeds, I'll usually be there. I've also been the treasurer for LUU Heart Beats, a student-led BHF society for two years (2019/2020) where we have won multiple awards from Leeds Student Union for Best New Society (2019), Best Volunteering Society (2020) and Best Charity Event (2020)!
Qualifications
Honours, Awards & Funding
