Qualifications
- B.Inf.Tech. (Computing Science) with distinction, QUT
- M.Math.Sci. (Statistical Modelling), QUT
- PhD, QUT
Areas of interest
- Biostatistics
- Bayesian inference
- Spatial models
- Computation
Thesis Topic
My PhD project is in medical image analysis of cone-beam computed tomography (CT). These 3D images have a low contrast-to-noise ratio, so prior information needs to be considered in order to accurately interpret the voxel intensity values and identify the regions of interest. I have used a hidden Markov random field (Potts model) to represent the spatial homogeneity between the labels of neighbouring voxels. Informative priors are derived from a previous image of the same subject, as well as from published studies. By highlighting changes in these images, I aim to assist radiotherapists in their decision making, thereby improving the accuracy of image-guided radiotherapy and reducing the incidence and severity of side-effects experienced by cancer patients receiving the treatment. This project is a collaboration between QUT and the Radiation Oncology Mater Centre, QHealth.
Abstracts:
“Informative Priors for Segmentation of Medical Images,” presented at Bayes on the Beach 2011
“Analysis of Cone-Beam CT using prior information,” academic poster presented at the SSAI Young Statisticians’ Conference, 2011
“A Bayesian spatial model with informative priors, with application to cone-beam computed tomography,” presented at the Australian Statistical Conference 2012
“Segmentation of cone-beam CT using a hidden Markov random field with informative priors,” academic poster presented at the International Conference on the Use of Computers in Radiation Therapy (ICCR 2013)
“Pre-computation for ABC in image analysis,” contributed talk presented at the 5th IMS-ISBA joint meeting (MCMSki IV)
“Precomputation for SMC-ABC with undirected graphical models,” invited talk at ABC in Sydney
About
Prior to commencing my PhD, I was involved in the Visible Cell project at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience. I’ve also worked in R&D for various international companies: writing software for editing a 3D wireframe mesh of a human face; a multimedia search engine and a cable TV programme guide using speech recognition; and an electronic medical records database based on the ANSI HL7 standard. My masters project investigated Gaussian mixture distributions of exhaled particles.
In my spare time I enjoy roleplaying games and playing capoeira.
Bayesian Research & Applications Group 