Research Liaison Network

Adele is a researcher and Professor within the School of Mathematics and Physics at Queen’s University Belfast, and holds an Adjunct Professorship at Ontario Tech University. Her research expertise lies at the intersection of statistical modelling, Operational Research, and AI, with a specific focus on hybrid healthcare models. She commenced her research in Coxian phase-type distributions in 1997 during her PhD. This area, which initially had barely any research activity, is gradually gaining momentum, with more researchers wishing to explore the models for alternative use, further development, and application. Her early work involved the incorporation of Bayesian Belief Networks to create a “hybrid” approach to decision-making under uncertainty. While the original research focused on healthcare for the elderly, the UK Health Reform in 2010 and the growing need for all countries to plan and manage elderly healthcare costs make this research extremely topical and relevant for societal impact. In the last two years, major developments in coding have resulted in these various models becoming much more accessible to researchers in other domains, with future research in this field looking very promising. Alongside this, Prof Marshall’s work in establishing CenSSOR, and serving as its Director for 12 years, has led to Queen’s being recognized as an expert hub in this field. She further established this reach in 2017 by establishing the MSc Data Analytics programme building capacity in data and analytics skills in both the public and private sectors. The practical application of her research remains a priority. Most notably, during the COVID-19 pandemic, her “Change Point Agent-Based Model” provided evidence-based insights for national policy decisions.