Algorithms that work – how higher mathematics generates innovation in healthcare

Mathematical algorithmic modelling may seem a rarefied academic pursuit, but scientists at CWI pursuing life sciences and health (LSH) research are committed to designing models with direct applications to challenges in healthcare. From optimizing treatment plans for cancer patients and reducing waiting times for ambulances to improving geriatric care and suicide prevention, their work, says senior researcher Peter Bosman, 'is not window dressing. Our algorithms are actually being used. We go from foundation to application.' The Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI, the Dutch national research institute for mathematics and computer science) is keen to ensure that the real-life value of its work is more widely understood.