Education
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2006 – 2010 |
PhD “Statistical Models for Synthesising the Appearance of Mammographic Masses” Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering, University of Manchester Supervised by Dr Sue Astley – degree awarded subject to minor thesis corrections, March 2010 My thesis presents a novel method for simulating signs of breast cancer in x-ray mammograms. The project aimed to generate synthetic image data that could be used in performance analysis tasks, overcoming the difficulties associated with obtaining a sufficient volume of real, annotated data. My work drew from the fields of statistical modelling, texture synthesis and wavelet analysis to produce a model that characterised the appearance of malignant breast masses in mammograms. During my work I developed a strong understanding of x-ray mammography and the UK breast screening program, and worked closely with clinical radiologists at the Nightingale Beast Centre, Manchester. In addition to my thesis, I authored 7 international conference papers during my PhD (see publications). |
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2001 - 2005 |
MSc (Hons) First, Mathematics and Computer Science, Imperial College London In addition to a core syllabus of pure, applied and statistical mathematics, and computer programming, specialist modules covered included: Computer Vision, Biostatistics, Pattern Recognition and Statistical Classification, and Intelligent Data Analysis and Probabilistic Inference. Final year masters project – “3-D Visualisation of Coronary CT” with Dr Philip Edwards |
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1999 – 2001 |
Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge A levels: Maths (A), Further Maths (A), Physics (A), Chemistry (A), General Studies (A) |
Research Interests and Experience
My principal research interests lie in the field of medical image analysis. Specifically, my work focuses on modelling the appearance of breast tissue in x-ray mammograms and investigating the relationship between mammographic appearance and breast cancer.
I am currently developing methods for detecting and classifying linear structures in mammograms, with a particular focus on characterising the different types and patterns of structure that may be indicative of breast cancer. This work builds on the foundations of my PhD and incorporates a novel representation of image structure with state-of-the-art statistical classification techniques. The ultimate aim of this work is to develop an algorithm capable of detecting architectural distortion in mammograms with a sensitivity and specificity greater than existing methods allow. This would be of direct benefit to current commercial systems aimed at aiding the detection of breast cancer.
In addition to continuing this work, I am keen to develop my understanding of other imaging modalities, such MR and digital tomosynthesis, that play an increasing role in screening and managing breast disease.
Teaching and Administrative Experience
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2009 – present |
Software development and support, Nightingale Breast Screening and Genesis Prevention Centre, University Hospital of South Manchester Provided software development and support to major project funded by the National Institute of Health Research aimed at predicting the risk of breast cancer at the time of mammographic screening Ÿ Developed a standalone application to automatically generate and analyse forms for the visual analysis of breast density. Ensured software can be used by non-scientific administrative support staff in the project, and deployed the software on project computers Ÿ Improved and extended existing breast density software developed at the University of Manchester to measure breast density from mammograms. Produced standalone software application to be used in trial. |
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Summer 2009 |
School of Medicine, University of Manchester Ÿ Aided supervision of an undergraduate medical student in a 10 week research project. Helped establish the overall project goals and provided the software used by the student. As a result of this work resulted I authored a paper presented at an international medical imaging conference, for which the student was a named contributor (see publications, Berks et al. SPIE 2010) Ÿ Provided computing support and statistical advice to an additional five undergraduate medical students during their research . Resulted in named contributor to six papers presented at international medical imaging conferences. |
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2006 – present |
Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering, University of Manchester Ÿ Alongside my own postgraduate research I have provided informal support to numerous other students and research associates, providing specialist advice on programming in Matlab Ÿ Contribute regularly to the internal department website and code repositories |
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2007 – present |
ECB accredited coach (Level 2), Hale Barns Cricket Club, Cheshire (voluntary) Details of role |
Technical Skills
Ÿ Highly numerate with outstanding academic track record in mathematical and computational sciences throughout my education. Specialist interest in statistical modelling techniques and particularly those applicable to image analysis
Ÿ Experience in programming in C, C++ (including imaging toolkits ITK, VTK, FLTK and VXL), Java, JSP and HTML
Ÿ Expertise in programming in Matlab, particularly with regard to analysing images and producing visual results for communicative and publication uses. I have also developed several standalone software applications that have been deployed for external use by collaborators
Ÿ Experience of programming on both Windows and UNIX/Linux platforms including extensive use of remote computing clusters
Ÿ Proficient in Latex and Microsoft Office, used to publish and present research findings in a variety of formats
Ÿ Natural speaker who enjoys giving public talks. I have presented research at several international conferences in addition to internal seminars and meetings with external collaborators
Publications
Please click on the publications tab for details
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