Dilan studied molecular biology and applied mathematics at Griffith University (Australia), with an honours year in experimental molecular biology. He then completed a PhD in applied mathematics at the same university, which involved the mathematical modeling of aspects of the congenital heart disease Coarctation of the Aorta in arterial blood flow models, to identify possible causes of, and solutions to, patient issues. Dilan is now working in the Hasenauer group, on the mathematical modelling of biological systems, with on focus on parameter estimation and model selection.