The curious (research) journey of Mathias Roesler

It was perhaps inevitable that Mathias Roesler – the newly-minted Dr Roesler – would do a PhD. His parents met at Princeton in the US while doing their own doctorates (his father in mechanical and aerospace engineering, his mum on French poet and philosopher Yves Bonnefoy), and they later moved their nascent family to France, where Mathias would (even later) do his undergrad and masters degrees at Paris’ prestigious Sorbonne University.

But it was his paternal step-grandfather, a French physics professor turned education reformer, who Mathias credits as having the biggest influence on his academic path. Robert Chabbal not only believed in his young grandson (“He always told me I would do a PhD”), but he set up the engineering degree and masters programmes that was to set Mathias on the path of practical bioengineering – and eventually his PhD.

“In 2008 he wrote a report for the French government comparing US, German and French engineering training models, including proposed solutions to make French engineers more competitive internationally. This report led to my grandfather being actively involved in the development, in 2010, of a university-wide French state tertiary engineering programme, which included learning through projects, internships and a semester abroad.

“I was in San Francisco taking classes at Berkeley and he suggested I come back and enrol.” 

The new curriculum allowed Mathias to experiment with robotics, programming, and developments in artificial intelligence and neural networks. So after his grandfather’s death at 94 years old (and Chabbal was still involved in educational reform networks right until he died), Mathias was invited to take his skills to the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, which was pioneering AI applications to improve yields and quality control in grape production.

It was interesting work, but somehow unrewarding.

“I felt like I was working towards generating more wealth for the Champagne business, rather than using my skills for something better.”

One day after work Mathias sat on the couch with a map of the world and looked for English-speaking countries he could imagine living in, and which had interesting – and funded – PhD options.

“New Zealand was right in front of me.”

Mathias joined a group at the University of Auckland’s Auckland Bioengineering Institute working towards the understanding, diagnosis and eventual treatment for the one-in-ten women of childbearing age who suffer from painful and debilitating uterus-related conditions like endometriosis.

In particular, he was looking at how the electrical signalling in the uterus worked (and changed) during a rat’s menstrual cycle.

“I was lucky to have three very different angles to my PhD: imaging the uterus using high-resolution imaging methods; experiments where I recorded electrical signals; and modelling where I developed computer simulation and models of the rat uterus. 

“I learned a lot and felt like I was doing something with purpose.”

Professor Alys Clark, head of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute’s Uterine Health Group and Mathias’ supervisor, remembers him starting his PhD in the middle of the Covid lockdowns and initially having to work remotely. 

“On arrival in Auckland he dived straight into a combination of lab work and handling complex data and models with great enthusiasm. 

“He filled his time both analysing the uterus and establishing a sideline in crocheted uteruses which are now proudly owned by team members.” 

(Crochet is not Mathias' only non-research-related talent. He also competed with the French national gymnastics team, has a lifelong passion for astronomy, and played a leading part in the team which created a manipulated 3D reconstruction of a rat ovary for the Art of Bioengineering exhibition – below.)

Alys Clark says Mathias' PhD work provided "important insights" into the changes in the anatomy of the uterus with the 'estrus cycle' – the mammal equivalent of the menstrual cycle, part of which is what is often referred to as the animal being ‘on heat’.

His research also looked at "the relationship between this anatomy and electrical signals from the uterus – factors that can be measured non-invasively in humans and might be used to diagnose problems in the future", she says.

Life or death

Since finishing his PhD, Mathias’ research work has taken another very different path – a job at the University of Auckland’s Surgical Recovery and Safety Lab developing an upgraded open-source clinical model that can predict the risk of death or serious complications during or after having an operation.

“We’re using AI on a dataset of 2.5 million people who went through surgery in New Zealand between 2010 and 2024. That’s informing new technology that can help clinicians without adding extra complexity.

“I feel like I am continuing to learn while being useful.”