Biography

I graduated in Physics at the University of Pisa (Italy) in 1994, discussing a thesis in quantum field theory. In 1998 I obtained my PhD in Physics from the University of North Texas (USA), where I focused on the role of stochastic processes in classical and quantum mechanical systems.

Between 1998 and 2007 I held postdoctoral positions at the University of Barcelona (Spain), the University of Rome "La Sapienza" (Italy), CWI (The Netherlands), and the University of Oxford (UK). During this period of time, I made a gradual transition from the general fields of Statistical Mechanics and Pattern Formation towards the modelling of biological systems. In 2007 I obtained a Lectureship in Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath (UK), where I taught Mathematical Biology modules at both MSc and undergraduate levels.

In 2009 I joined the University of Surrey (UK) as Research Fellow in Systems Biology, and was appointed Lecturer in Mathematical Biology in 2012. My current focus is on developing models of bacterial metabolism and on comparing model predictions with experimental data. More in general I am interested in the modelling of deterministic and stochastic kinetics in subcellular networks. 

Research Interests

Present:

• Models of bacterial persistence
• Stochastic effects in subcellular networks
• Models of melanocyte differentiation in zebrafish

Past:

• Branching in low temperature plasmas: Analysis and simulations
• Ageing, slow dynamics, and glassy behaviour
• Reaction-Diffusion fronts with multiplicative noise
• Macroscopic randomness and complex phenomena

Publications

Cellular differentiation

• E.R. Greenhill, A. Rocco, L. Vibert, M. Nikaido, R.N. Kelsh
  An Iterative Genetic and Dynamical Modelling Approach Identifies Novel Features of the Gene Regulatory Network Underlying Melanocyte Development
  PLoS Genetics 7, e1002265 (2011)

Stochasticity in subcellular networks

• A. Rocco
  Stochastic control of metabolic pathways
  Phys. Biol. 6, 016002 (2009)

Molecular Evolution

• G. Lunter, A. Rocco, N. Mimouni, A. Heger, A. Caldeira, J. Hein
  Uncertainty in Homology Inferences: Assessing and Improving Genomic Sequence Alignment
  Genome Res. 18, 298 (2008)

Low temperature plasmas

• U. Ebert, C. Montijn, T.M.P. Briels, W. Hundsdorfer, B. Meulenbroek, A. Rocco, E.M. van Veldhuizen
  The multiscale nature of streamers
  Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 15, S118 (2006)
• B. Meulenbroek, A. Rocco, U. Ebert
  Streamer branching rationalized by conformal mapping techniques
  Phys Rev. E 69, 067402 (2004)
• U. Ebert, B. Meulenbroek, C. Montijn, A. Rocco, and W. Hundsdorfer
  Spontaneous branching of anode-directed streamers: conformal analysis and numerical results
  Proceedings of the XXVI International Conference on Phenomena in Ionized Gases [refereed]
  Greifswald, Germany, July 15-20, 2003
• U. Ebert, A. Rocco, W. Hundsdorfer, and M. Arrayás
  A mechanism for streamer branching
  Proceedings of ESCAMPIG 16th - ICRP 5th (Joint European-Japanese Conference on Gas Discharges) [refereed]
  Grenoble, France, July 14-18 2002
• A. Rocco, U. Ebert and W. Hundsdorfer
  Branching of Negative Streamers in free flight
  Phys. Rev. E 66, 035102 (2002)

Glassy dynamics

• B. Coluzzi, A. Crisanti, E. Marinari, F. Ritort, A. Rocco,
  A New Method to Compute the Configurational Entropy in Spin Glasses
  Eur. Phys. J. B 32, 495 (2003)
• A. Crisanti, F. Ritort, A. Rocco, and M. Sellitto
  Is the Stillinger and Weber decomposition relevant for coarsening models?
  J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 14, 1523 (2002)
• A. Crisanti, F. Ritort, A. Rocco, and M. Sellitto
  Inherent Structures and non-equilibrium dynamics of 1D constrained kinetic models: A comparison study
  J. Chem. Phys. 113, 10615 (2000)

Pattern Formation

• A. Rocco, L. Ramírez-Piscina, J. Casademunt
  Kinematic reduction of reaction-diffusion fronts with multiplicative noise: Derivation of stochastic sharp-interface equations
  Phys. Rev. E 65, 056116 (2002)
• A. Torcini, A. Vulpiani, A. Rocco
  Front propagation in chaotic and noisy reaction diffusion systems: A discrete-time map approach
  Eur. Phys. J. B 25, 333 (2002)
• A. Rocco, J. Casademunt, U. Ebert, and W. van Saarloos
  Diffusion coefficient of propagating fronts with multiplicative noise
  Phys. Rev. E 65, 012102 (2002)
• G. Tripathy, A. Rocco, J. Casademunt, and W. van Saarloos
  Universality class of fluctuating pulled fronts
  Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5215 (2001)
  doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.5215
  Full text is available at: http://epubs.surrey.ac.uk/240041/
• F.X. Magdaleno, A. Rocco, J. Casademunt
  Interface dynamics in Hele-Shaw flows with centrifugal forces: Preventing cusp singularities with rotation
  Phys. Rev. E 62, R5887 (2000)
• A. Rocco, U. Ebert, and W. van Saarloos
  Subdiffusive fluctuations of "pulled" fronts with multiplicative noise
  Phys. Rev. E 62, R13 (2000)

Macroscopic manifestations of randomness

• P. Grigolini, A. Rocco and B.J. West
  Fractional Calculus as a Macroscopic Manifestation of Randomness
  Phys. Rev. E 59 2603 (1999)
• A. Rocco and B.J. West
  Fractional Calculus and the Evolution of Fractal Phenomena
  Physica A 265, 535 (1999)
• A. Rocco and P. Grigolini
  The Markov approximation revisited: Inconsistency of the standard quantum Brownian motion model
  Phys. Lett. A 252, 115 (1999)
• P. Allegrini, P. Grigolini, A. Rocco
  Slow motion as a thermal gradient effect
  Phys. Lett. A 233, 309 (1997)

Teaching

BMS3072 - Systems Biology: Genomes in action