Overview

I am a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Reading.

My teaching focuses on applied statistics, and I have an interest in the use of technology in teaching. In 2010 I was awarded an Early Career University Teaching Fellowship.

My career is mainly focused on teaching now, but past research interests have centred around the application of statistics to problems in genetics. Current research in statistics is collaborative and includes for example the analysis of data from prospective studies on shingles patients and the analysis of data from prospective studies on the effect of diet and genes on lipids.

I am a STEM ambassador and have developed and delivered a Masterclass in 2011 on Forensic Mathematics for Year 10/12 students (delivered again in 2012).

Teaching

I teach on a number of (mainly statistics) modules

	AS1D Data Analysis
	AS2D Medical Statistics - Epidemiology / AS3A1 Epidemiology
	AS2G Skills for Statisticians
	MA2COM Communicating Mathematics / MA2GS General Skills
	AS2H Forensic Statistics and Genetics / AS3B1 Genetic Data Analysis
	AS2B1 Statistics and Epidemiology for the Life Sciences
	AS3C Analysis of Structured Data - Multivariate Analysis / STM40 Multivariate Analysis & Structured Data
	AS3F Statistics Research Project / AS3F1 Time Series Project

Responsibilities

My responsibilities include

	Director of Undergraduate Studies (Mathematics and Statistics)
	School e-Learning Co-ordinator
	Director of the Statistical Advisory Service
	Principal Internal Examiner, Undergraduate programmes
	Programme Advisor: all undergraduate programmes in mathematics or statistics
	Member of Department Staff-Student Forums (Part 1, Part 2, Parts 3-4)
	Member of School Undergraduate Board of Studies
	Member of MPharm Pharmacy and MSc Food and Nutritional Sciences Boards of Studies

Other responsibilities

	2007 - 2009: Senior Examiner for the Royal Statistical Society professional examinations
	2004 - 2007: Associate Editor for JRSS Series C (Applied Statistics)
	2000 - 2007: Voluntary webmaster for the Royal Statistical Society
	Also, formerly a member of the Careers Promotion Committee for the Royal Statistical Society (before the committee was dissolved in 2003)

Principal research interests (Past and Present)

	Use of DNA profiles for forensic identification and relatedness testing, including familial searching
	Estimation of population genetics parameters (e.g. genetic correlations within and between loci) via Bayesian (and Markov chain Monte Carlo) techniques
	Conservation genetics
	Estimating mutation and recombination rates from DNA sequence data via coalescent methodology

Publications

Any software related to genetics publications below can be downloaded from the Statistical Genetics Group software page.

	Measuring departures from Hardy-Weinberg: a Markov chain Monte Carlo method for estimating the inbreeding coefficient. K.L. Ayres and D.J. Balding (1998). Heredity 80, 769 - 777.
	Validation of Short Tandem Repeat Analysis for the investigation of cases of disputed paternity. J.A. Thomson, V. Pilotti, P. Stevens, K.L. Ayres, and P.G. Debenham (1999). Forensic Science International 100, 1 - 16.
	Allowing for within-subpopulation inbreeding in forensic match probabilities. K.L. Ayres and A.D.J. Overall (1999). Forensic Science International 103, 207 - 216.
	Validation of Multiplex STR Systems for the Investigation of Parentage and Other Familial Relationships. J.A. Thomson, K.L. Ayres, V. Pilotti, M. Barrett, J. Walker and P. G. Debenham (2000). In "Progress in Forensic Genetics 8" (Eds. G.F. Sensabaugh, P.J. Lincoln and B. Olaisen), Elsevier Science.
	Relatedness testing in subdivided populations. K.L. Ayres (2000). Forensic Science International 114, 107 - 115.
	A two-locus forensic match probability for subdivided populations. K.L. Ayres (2000). Genetica 108, 137 - 143.
	Lipoprotein (a) as a predictor for myocardial infarction in middle-aged men. M. Seed, K.L. Ayres, S. Humphries, and G. Miller (2001). American Journal of Medicine 110, 22 - 27.
	Measuring gametic disequilibrium from multi-locus data. K.L. Ayres and D.J. Balding (2001). Genetics 157, 413 - 423.
	Short Tandem Repeat profiling provides an international reference standard for human cell lines. J.R.W. Masters, J.A. Thomson, B. Daly-Burns, Y.A. Reid, W. Dirks, P. Packer, L.H. Toji, T. Ohno, H. Tanabe, C.F. Arlett, L.R. Kelland, M. Harrison, A. Virmani, T.H. Ward, K.L. Ayres & P.G. Debenham (2001). Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences USA 98, 8012 - 8017.
	Analysis of disputed single-parent/child and sibling relationships using 16 STR loci. J.A. Thomson, K.L. Ayres, V. Pilotti, M.N. Barrett, J.I.H. Walker and P.G. Debenham (2001). International Journal of Legal Medicine 115, 128-134.
	Paternal exclusion in the presence of substructure. K.L. Ayres (2002). Forensic Science International 129, 142-144.
	Implications for DNA identification arising from an analysis of Australian forensic databases. K.L. Ayres, J. Chaseling and D.J. Balding (2002). Forensic Science International 129, 90-98.
	Linkage disequilibrium assessment via log-linear modelling of SNP haplotype frequencies. A.P. Morris, A.D. Pedder and K.L. Ayres (2003). Genetic Epidemiology 25, 106-114.
	DNA variation in a 13 Mb region including the F9 gene: inferring the genealogical history and causal role of a haemophilia B mutation (IVS 5+13 A->G). T. Anagnostopoulos, A.P. Morris, K.L. Ayres, F.Giannelli and P.M. Green (2003). Journal of Thrombosis & Haemostasis 1, 2609-2614.
	API-CALC 1.0: a computer program for calculating the average probability of identity allowing for substructure, inbreeding and the presence of close relatives. K.L. Ayres and A.D.J. Overall (2004). Molecular Ecology Notes 4, 315-318.
	Detecting non-multiplicative disease penetrances from transmissions of parental alleles to affected children. K.L. Ayres and R.N. Curnow (2004). School of Applied Statistics, The University of Reading: Technical Report 04/01.
	Detecting non-multiplicative genotype relative risks from transmissions of parental alleles to affected children. K.L. Ayres and R.N. Curnow (2005). Journal of Human Genetics, 50, 46-48.
	Gene conversion and evolution of Xq28 duplicons involved in recurring inversions causing severe Hemophilia A. R.D. Bagnall, K.L. Ayres, P.M. Green and F.Giannelli (2005). Genome Research, 15, 214-223.
	Calculating the exclusion probability and paternity index for X-chromosomal loci in the presence of substructure. K.L. Ayres and W.M. Powley (2005). Forensic Science International, 149, 201-203.
	Paternity index calculations when some individuals share common ancestry. K.L. Ayres and D.J. Balding (2005). Forensic Science International, 151, 101-103.
	The expected performance of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism loci in paternity testing. K.L. Ayres (2005). Forensic Science International, 154, 167-172.
	Polymorphisms can be maintained by the interaction of maternal behaviour and competition between progeny. R.N. Curnow and K.L. Ayres (2006) Section of Applied Statistics, The University of Reading: Technical Report 06/01.
	Population genetic models can be used to study the evolution of the interacting behaviour of parents and their progeny. R.N. Curnow and K.L. Ayres (2007) Theoretical Population Biology, 72, 67-76.
	Effect of viral load on the outcome of Herpes Zoster. M.L. Quinlivan, K. Ayres, H. Ran, S. McElwaine, M. Leedham- Green, F.T. Scott and J. Breuer (2007) Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 45, 3909-3914.
	Selection of candidate coding DNA barcoding regions for use on land plants. C.S. Ford, K.L. Ayres, N. Toomey, N. Haider, J. van Alphen Stahl, L.J. Kelly, N. Wikström, P.M. Hollingsworth, R.J. Duff, S.B. Hoot, R.S. Cowan, M.W. Chase and M.J. Wilkinson (2009) Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 159, 1-11.
	Electronic marking of statistics assessments for bioscience students. K.L. Ayres and F.M. Underwood (2010) Bioscience Education, 15, c4.
	Humoral immunity following chickenpox is influenced by geography and ethnicity. K.L. Ayres, Y. Talukder, J. Breuer (2010) Journal of Infection, 61, 244-251.
	Persistence of varicella-zoster virus viraemia in patients with herpes zoster. M.L. Quinlivan, K.L. Ayres, P.J. Kelly, S.P. Parker, F.T. Scott, R.W. Johnson, C. Maple, J. Breuer (2011) Journal of Clinical Virology, 50, 130-135.
	Evaluation of the time resolved fluorescence immunoassay (TRFIA) for the detection of varicella zoster virus (VZV) antibodies following vaccination of healthcare workers. S.L. McDonald, P.A. Maple, N. Andrews, K.E. Brown, K.L. Ayres, F.T. Scott, M. Al Bassam, A.A. Gershon, S.P. Steinberg, J. Breuer (2011) Journal of Virological Methods 172, 60-65.
	Anonymous marking of coursework using a Vigenère-type cipher. K.L. Ayres (2011) British Journal of Educational Technology 42, E156–E159.
	Setting the right hurdle: progression to the final year of an MMath programme. K.L. Ayres and P. Glaister (2012) MSOR Connections, 12, 31-33.
	The benefits of an undergraduate teaching and learning placement scheme in mathematics and statistics. K.L. Ayres, P. Glaister and C.J. Smith (2012) MSOR Connections, 12, 2-6.
	A technique for delivering individualised formative problems and examples. K.L. Ayres and P. Glaister (2012) To appear, Proceedings of the HEA STEM Conference.
	Statistical monitoring of student performance - an early warning system. K.L. Ayres, N.R.T. Biggs and P. Glaister (2012) To appear, Proceedings of the HEA STEM Conference.

I have also written two chapters on the use of the internet for postgraduate research, for the second edition of Tony Greenfield's book 'Research Methods' (2002).

Software

For programs related to Curnow & Ayres (TPB, 2007), download rnc_kla.zip.

For files related to the e-Mark automated marking macros (Ayres & Underwood, Bioscience Education, 2010), download e-Mark.zip.

For the Excel file related to the anonymous marking number generation method (Ayres, BJET, 2011), download AnonyMark.xlsm.

For files related to the autoQs individualised sequence of problems program (Ayres & Glaister, Proceedings of the HEA STEM Conference, 2012), download autoQs_demo.zip.

For files related to the student monitoring system (Ayres, Biggs & Glaister, Proceedings of the HEA STEM Conference, 2012), download EWS.zip.

Background

Oct. 2011 -

Senior Lecturer, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Reading.
 

Jan. 2002 -

Lecturer, School & later Section of Applied Statistics, and then Department of Mathematics and Statistics (2010 -), University of Reading.

• 2003 - successfully completed the University of Reading Certificate in Further Professional Studies in Higher Education (accredited by the ILTHE)
• 2005 - School Award for Teaching Excellence (Rising Star)
• 2007 - School Award for Teaching Excellence
• 2010 - Early Career University Teaching Fellowship

 

Aug. 1999 - Dec. 2001

Research fellow, Department of Applied Statistics, University of Reading.
The project (funded by the BBSRC) focused on the development of new statistical techniques (using coalescent methodology) for investigating DNA sequence variation on the human X chromosome (mutation and recombination rates). The project was supervised by David Balding and John Whittaker, and was in collaboration with Francesco Giannelli and colleagues at Guys Hospital, London, who generated data for the project.
 

Jan. 1999 - July 1999

Research assistant, Dept. of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, St. Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Work included (i) analysing data from a prospective cohort study for haemostatic risk factors for heart disease (myocardial infarction) in middle-aged men (working with George Miller), and (ii) maintaining the computer database for the European Randomised Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening (ERTOCS; working with Deborah Ashby); also web administrator for Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine.
 

1995 - 1998

PhD in Applied Statistics at the University of Reading (first year completed at Queen Mary & Westfield College, London).
I was supervised by David Balding, and was funded by a studentship from the EPSRC. My thesis is entitled "Measuring Genetic Correlations Within and Between Loci, With Implications For Disequilibrium Mapping and Forensic Identification".
 

1994 - 1995

MSc in Statistics at the London School of Economics.
 

1991 - 1994

BSc in Pure Mathematics (1st class honours) at Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London.