Karen Poulter
-
+44 (0) 118 378 8023
-
Associate Professor
- Co-Chair, Sub-Committee on Development and Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (DELT)
- Member by invitation, University Board of Teaching and Learning and Student Experience (UBTLSE)
- Member, Senate Standing Committee on Examination Results (SSCER)
- Member, Senate (elected UTF representative)
- Member, University Personal Titles Committee
- Director of Undergraduate Studies
Areas of interest
- Applied statistics
- Pedagogy
- Leadership in Teaching and Learning (T&L)
Teaching
Current teaching (2023/24):
Research projects
I am teaching intensive and so do not carry out research which is linked to the department’s research groups. I do, however, sometimes engage in collaborative pedagogic research, primarily performing statistical analysis of data related to teaching and learning issues.
Background
Following completion of my PhD, I started work as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, St Bartholomew’s and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry. This was a fixed term contract and in the middle of 1999 I returned to Reading as a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in the then Department of Applied Statistics at the University of Reading. In January 2002 I became a Lecturer in what was the School (later Section) of Applied Statistics, and in 2010 Applied Statistics merged with the Department of Mathematics to create the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer (later renamed Associate Professor) in 2011 at the University of Reading, and moved from a Teaching & Research to Teaching Intensive contract in 2013. I was awarded a University Teaching Fellowship in 2015.
Academic qualifications
1994 BSc Pure Mathematics (1st class honours), Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London
1995 MSc Statistics, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London
1998 PhD Applied Statistics, University of Reading
2003 Certificate in Further Professional Studies in Higher Education, University of Reading
Professional bodies/affiliations
Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Websites/blogs
Publications
- Ayres, K. , Wilcox, A. , Glaister, P. (2013) Diversity in mathematics assessment equals diversity in opinion?. MSOR Connections , 13 (2). pp. 15-23. ISSN: 1473-4869 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.11120/msor.2013.00012
- Glaister, P. , Glaister, E. , Ayres, K. (2012) Engagement ‘with’ or ‘by’ students: two sides of the same coin. MSOR Connections , 12 (2). pp. 22-27. ISSN: 1473-4869
- Ayres, K. , Biggs, N. , Glaister, P. (2012) Statistical monitoring of student performance: an early warning system.
- Ayres, K. and Glaister, P. (2012) A technique for delivering individualised formative problems and examples.
- Ayres, K. , Glaister, P. , Smith, C. (2012) The benefits of an undergraduate teaching and learning placement scheme in mathematics and statistics. MSOR Connections , 12 pp. 2-5. ISSN: 1473-4869
- Ayres, K. and Glaister, P. (2012) Setting the right hurdle: progression to the final year of an MMath programme. MSOR Connections , 12 pp. 31-33. ISSN: 1473-4869
- McDonald, S. , Maple, P. , Andrews, N. , Brown, K. , Ayres, K. , Scott, F. , Al Bassam, M. , Gershon, A. , Steinberg, S. , Breuer, J. (2010) Evaluation of the time resolved fluorescence immunoassay (TRFIA) for the detection of varicella zoster virus (VZV) antibodies following vaccination of healthcare workers. Journal of Virological Methods , 172 (1-2). pp. 60-65. ISSN: 0166-0934 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2010.12.021
- Quinlivan, M. , Ayres, K. , Kelly, P. , Parker, S. , Scott, F. , Johnson, R. , Maple, C. , Breuer, J. (2010) Persistence of varicella-zoster virus viraemia in patients with herpes zoster.. Journal of Clinical Virology , 50 (2). pp. 130-135. ISSN: 1386-6532 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2010.10.014
- Ayres, K. , Talukder, Y. , Breuer, J. (2010) Humoral immunity following chickenpox is influenced by geography and ethnicity. Journal of Infection , 61 (3). pp. 244-251. ISSN: 0163-4453 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2010.06.012
- Ayres, K. and Underwood, F. (2010) Electronic marking of statistics assessments for bioscience students. Bioscience Education , 15 ISSN: 1479-7860 | doi: DOI:10.3108/beej.15.c4
- Ford, C. , Ayres, K. , Toomey, N. , Haider, N. , Van Alphen Stahl, J. , Kelly, L. , Wikström, N. , Hollingsworth, P. , Duff, R. , Hoot, S. , Cowan, R. , Chase, M. , Wilkinson, M. (2009) Selection of candidate coding DNA barcoding regions for use on land plants. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society , 159 (1). pp. 1-11. ISSN: 0024-4074 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8339.2008.00938.x
- Quinlivan, . , Ayres, K. , Ran, . , McElwaine, . , Leedham-Green, . , Scott, . , Johnson, . , Breuer, . (2007) Effect of viral load on the outcome of herpes zoster. Journal of Clinical Microbiology , 45 (12). pp. 3909-3914. ISSN: 0095-1137 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1128/jcm.00874-07
- Curnow, R. and Ayres, K. (2007) Population genetic models can be used to study the evolution of the interacting behaviours of parents and their progeny. Theoretical Population Biology , 72 (1). pp. 67-76. ISSN: 0040-5809 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tpb.2006.12.002
- Curnow, R. and Ayres, . (2006) Polymorphisms can be maintained by the interaction of maternal behaviour and competition between progeny. University of Reading
- Mastrodomenico, . , Ayres, K. , Morris, . (2005) A comparison of single locus and haplotype association based methods for gene mapping. Annals of Human Genetics , 69 pp. 770-771. ISSN: 0003-4800
- Ayres, K. and Curnow, R. (2005) Detecting non-multiplicative genotype relative risks from transmissions of parental alleles to affected children. Journal of Human Genetics , 50 (1). pp. 46-48. ISSN: 1435-232X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10038-004-0217-5
- Ayres, K. and Balding, . (2005) Paternity index calculations when some individuals share common ancestry. Forensic Science International , 151 (1). pp. 101-103. ISSN: 0379-0738 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2004.10.007
- Ayres, K. (2005) The expected performance of single nucleotide polymorphism loci in paternity testing. Forensic Science International , 154 (2-3). pp. 167-172. ISSN: 0379-0738 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2004.10.004
- Bagnall, R. , Ayres, K. , Green, P. , Giannelli, F. (2005) Gene conversion and evolution of Xq28 duplicons involved in recurring inversions causing severe hemophilia A. Genome research , 15 (2). pp. 214-223. ISSN: 1088-9051 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1101/gr.2946205
- Ayres, K. and Powley, W. (2005) Calculating the exclusion probability and paternity index for X-chromosomal loci in the presence of substructure. Forensic Science International , 149 (2-3). pp. 201-203. ISSN: 0379-0738 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2004.06.017
- Ayres, K. and Overall, . (2004) API-CALC 1.0: a computer program for calculating the average probability of identity allowing for substructure, inbreeding and the presence of close relatives. Molecular Ecology Notes , 4 (2). pp. 315-318. ISSN: 1471-8278 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-8286.2004.00616.x
- Morris, . , Pedder, . , Ayres, K. (2003) Linkage disequilibrium assessment via log-linear modeling of SNP haplotype frequencies. Genetic Epidemiology , 25 (2). pp. 106-114. ISSN: 0741-0395 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/gepi.10254
- Anagnostopoulos, . , Morris, . , Ayres, K. , Giannelli, . , Green, . (2003) DNA variation in a 13-Mb region including the F9 gene: inferring the genealogical history and causal role of a hemophilia B mutation (IVS 5+13 A -> G). Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis , 1 (12). pp. 2609-2614. ISSN: 1538-7933 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1538-7836.2003.00514.x
- Ayres, K. (2002) Paternal exclusion in the presence of substructure. Forensic Science International , 129 (2). pp. 142-144. ISSN: 0379-0738 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0379-0738(02)00231-1
- Ayres, K. , Chaseling, J. , Balding, D. (2002) Implications for DNA identification arising from an analysis of Australian forensic databases. Forensic Science International , 129 (2). pp. 90-98. ISSN: 0379-0738 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0379-0738(02)00232-3
- Thomson, J. , Ayres, K. , Pilotti, V. , Barrett, M. , Walker, J. , Debenham, P. (2001) Analysis of disputed single-parent/child and sibling relationships using 16 STR loci. International Journal of Legal Medicine , 115 (3). pp. 128-134. ISSN: 0937-9827 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s004140100212
- Masters, J. , Thomson, J. , Daly-Burns, B. , Reid, Y. , Dirks, W. , Packer, P. , Toji, L. , Ohno, T. , Tanabe, H. , Arlett, C. , Kelland, L. , Harrison, M. , Virmani, A. , Ward, T. , Ayres, K. , Debenham, P. (2001) Short tandem repeat profiling provides an international reference standard for human cell lines. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 98 (14). pp. 8012-8017. ISSN: 0027-8424 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.121616198
- Seed, M. , Ayres, K. , Humphries, S. , Miller, G. (2001) Lipoprotein (a) as a predictor of myocardial infarction in middle-aged men. The American Journal of Medicine , 110 (1). pp. 22-27. ISSN: 0002-9343 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9343(00)00652-5
- Ayres, K. and Balding, D. (2001) Measuring gametic disequilibrium from multilocus data. Genetics , 157 (1). pp. 413-423. ISSN: 0016-6731
- Ayres, K. (2000) A two-locus forensic match probability for subdivided populations. Genetica , 108 (2). pp. 137-143. ISSN: 1573-6857 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1004152931349
- Ayres, K. (2000) Relatedness testing in subdivided populations. Forensic Science International , 114 (2). pp. 107-115. ISSN: 0379-0738 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0379-0738(00)00289-9
- Thomson, J. , Pilotti, V. , Stevens, P. , Ayres, K. , Debenham, P. (1999) Validation of short tandem repeat analysis for the investigation of cases of disputed paternity. Forensic Science International , 100 (1-2). pp. 1-16. ISSN: 0379-0738 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0379-0738(98)00199-6
- Ayres, K. and Balding, D. (1998) Measuring departures from Hardy-Weinberg: a Markov chain Monte Carlo method for estimating the inbreeding coefficient. Heredity , 80 (6). pp. 769-777. ISSN: 1365-2540 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2540.1998.00360.x