PhD Vacancy
PhD vacancy - Identifying new diabetic retinopathy biomarkers based on Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCT-A), advanced image processing and computational modelling.
As part of the newly established MRC-funded Doctoral Training Partnership on Precision Medicine, we are offering a PhD Scholarship opportunity for the project:
Identifying new diabetic retinopathy biomarkers based on Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCT-A), advanced image processing, and computational modelling.
Background
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of visual loss in developed countries worldwide. Previous studies have reported haemodynamic changes in the diabetic eye that precede clinically evident pathological alterations of the retinal microvasculature. Therefore, new methods that allow greater understanding of these early haemodynamic changes may empower earlier detection of DR helping to limit vision loss.
Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCT-A) is a non-invasive technique for retinal imaging. OCT-A can resolve the microvasculature of the eye to a level of detail never seen before. Only very recently, OCT-A commercial products have started to be utilised in clinical centres. One of the first OCT-A devices installed in the UK is hosted in Edinburgh at the Clinical Research Imaging Centre (CRIC). CRIC’s Image Analysis Laboratory Manager, Dr MacGillivray, is one of the co-supervisors of this project and works closely with a team at Queen’s University in Belfast, where a second OCT-A device is hosted. Furthermore, co-supervisors Prof. Dhillon and Dr MacGillivray have over 12 years’ experience developing a successful research programme around retinal image analysis and are behind the software package VAMPIRE used in research centres worldwide .
Contact
The supervisory team brings together a unique set of skills in order to lead a programme of research of high calibre: Prof. Andrew Morris (Health Informatics, Data Science), Dr Miguel O. Bernabeu (computational modelling in Biology and Medicine), Dr Tom MacGillivray (multimodal image acquisition and retinal image processing), and Prof. Baljean Dhillon (Clinical Ophthalmology and Brain Sciences).
Dr Miguel O. Bernabeu (miguel.bernabeu@ed.ac.uk) for further details about the project
https://www.findaphd.com/search/ProjectDetails.aspx?PJID=73493&LID=462