Saturnino Luz

Reader

Background

Dr Luz works in medical informatics, devising and applying machine learning, signal processing, natural language processing and dimensionality reduction methods in the study of behaviour and communication in healthcare contexts. His main research interest is the computational modelling of behavioural and biological changes caused by neurodegenerative diseases, with focus the analysis of vocal and linguistic signals in Alzheimers's disease. He has also employed these methods in the investigation of interaction in multidisciplinary medical team meetings, doctor-patient consultations, telemedicine and health promotion. Dr Luz leads the Technology and Communication Research Group at the Centre for Dementia Prevention, and a team of researchers working on the Horizon 2020 project SAAM.

 

Postgraduate teaching

Saturnino is currently recruiting a PhD student and interested to hear from those considering a PhD in any areas relevant to his research. 

 

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

  • Sofia de la Fuente Garcia: "Human-Robot Interaction for Dementia Prevention and Research with a Focus on Cognitive Well-Being".  MRC Precision Medicine Doctoral Training Programme.
  • Pierre Albert: "Interaction Analytics for Automatic Assessment of Communication Quality in Primary Care", MRC Precision Medicine Doctoral Training Programme.
  • Minhong Wang: Agent state based modelling of pattern formation in pluripotent stem cells
  •  

Project activity

  • Supporting Active Ageing through Multimodal coaching (SSAM), EU Horizon 2020, Personalised Medicine; 2017-2020, €3,996,400. The SAAM project we focuses upon innovative, technology-enabled approaches to support the aging population living at home, with a novel and practical emphasis on ambient sensing and learning of user needs and preferences, and effective coaching by leveraging the user’s social support networks. Over three years, the project’s partners will develop and test new methods allowing Europe’s aging population to remain active, independent and longer in their homes.
  • Interaction Analytics for Automatic Assessment of Communication Quality in Primary Care. Health Research Board, 2016-2019; €313,000. The INCA project investigates technological mechanisms for electronic gathering and automated analysis of physician-patient interaction during medical interviews. It applies state of the art technology in speech processing, text analytics and social signal processing, and investigate the impact of models through which comprehensive, data-intensive communication analysis could be conducted. This interaction analytics research will use routinely collected audio-visual data from consultations between patients and trainee general practitioners.
  • Genealogies of Knowledge: Evolution and Contestation of Concepts across Time and Space.  AHRC, 2016-2020, £796,000. This project explores how our understanding of central scientific and cultural concepts has evolved since they first emerged. The project draws on a specially constructed electronic corpus of translations and recensions of key texts, both in the humanities and the sciences (with specific emphasis on medicine). Dr Luz leads the Natural Language Processing and Text Visualisation work packages.

Project list on Edinburgh Research Explorer

View all 214 publications on Research Explorer