The Oxford Conference series was born of humble beginnings, following a chance meeting between a physiologist and mathematician. Dan Cunningham, the physiologist, was seated together with the mathematician, Ryszard Herczynski, during a dinner at the Polish National Academy of Sciences in 1971. At the time, Cunningham was finding some difficulty with quantitatively expressing the pattern of breathing and described the issue to Herczynski. With only a napkin and pen, the two began to formulate a solution to the problem based on Cunningham’s description of the data and Herczynski’s mathematical insight. Subsequently, they both wondered how much more could be achieved by bringing together interested parties from both fields, and the idea of a conference on the mathematical modelling of the respiratory system was born.

It would not be until l978 that their idea would be realised at the meeting hosted by the University Laboratory of Physiology, Queen’s College at Oxford University and organised by Dan Cunningham, Ebbe Petersen, Ewart Carson and David Murray-Smith.   Unfortunately, though a co-organiser, Herczynski was unable to attend. This first conference was a resounding success with 90 delegates attending from 10 countries. At the meeting, attendees received a prologue on the physiological and mathematical principles of breathing written by the organising committee. This was memorably printed in a book with a yellow cover, spawning the endearing nickname; “The yellow book conference”. In this special edition we honour the origins of this meeting, with the colours of our cover, yellow with Oxford blue.

Subsequently, the triennial conference has become the premier meeting for the researcher working in the field of respiratory control. It has visited 7 countries on 4 continents. In September 2017, it was brought home to the inspiring setting of Oxford University for the first time in 40 years. Organised by Alexander Gourine (UCL), David Paterson (Oxford University), Robert Huckstepp (University of Warwick), and Patrick Hosford (QMUL), the l4th Oxford Conference on Modelling and Control of Breathing was held in the TS Eliot Theatre at Merton College in September, 2017.

Cited from: Huckstepp RTR, Hosford P, Gourine AV. Proceedings of the 14th Oxford Conference on Modelling and Control of Breathing (September 2017, Oxford, United Kingdom)-Special issue of Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology. Respir Physiol Neurobiol. 265: 1-2, 2019.

List of previous meetings