Learnings shared: Public dialogue on innovations in pregnancy
Learnings shared: Public dialogue on scanning and surgical innovations in pregnancy – hear from the project delivery team involved
Public participants from across England took part in a series of online workshops in April 2021 that aimed to explore parents’ perspectives, hopes and fears towards research into scanning technologies and surgical innovation in pregnancy.
This event is aimed at researchers, public engagement/ impact professionals and those associated with the project. You will hear from the public dialogue project delivery team who will present the key findings and share insights into the process of running a public dialogue around scanning and surgical innovations in pregnancy.
Background
Researchers from the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering (CME) at King’s College London are currently developing a number of technologies that could help improve the diagnosis and treatment of conditions that some babies develop while in the womb. These technologies have the potential to improve outcomes but could also impact the experience of families in this situation and lead to a change in the way they are cared for.
For the public dialogue, members of the public were invited to join discussions around the research, to understand their thoughts on these developments to help influence future research and innovations in scanning and surgery during pregnancy in the UK and, ultimately, shape the experience of expectant parents in the future.
Join us at this online event where we will:
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- Provide an overview of what a public dialogue is, how it can add value and have impact on research
- Provide an overview of the whole project from inception to reporting; including planning, recruitment, process design, findings and learning/reflections from those involved
- Share key findings from the dialogue discussions and report
Book your free ticket(s) here
CME Seminar Series: MONAI: The Medical Open Network for AI
Thursday 8th July 2021
3pm – 4pm
We are delighted to welcome, Dr Eric Kerfoot and Dr Richard Brown presenting a talk titled:
“MONAI: The Medical Open Network for AI”
Blurb – MONAI is the open-source, community-supported, PyTorch-based framework for deep learning in healthcare imaging. It provides domain-optimised foundational capabilities for developing healthcare imaging training workflows in a native PyTorch paradigm. In this talk, we will focus on how researchers with experience in deep learning could benefit from the domain-specific functionality of MONAI.
Following the talk (45mins) there will be a Q&A (15mins)
CME Seminar Series: A clinical tool for automated analysis of Cardiac MR using Quality-Controlled AI
Thursday 27th May 2021
2pm – 3pm
We are delighted to welcome, Dr Esther Puyol and Dr Bram Ruijsink presenting a talk titled:
“A clinical tool for automated analysis of Cardiac MR using Quality-Controlled AI”
Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) plays a central role in diagnosis and management decisions for patient with heart failure. In our talk, we will show how we use robust quality control and generalizable, interpretable AI models to train robust tools to automatically collect a large set of new biomarkers from cine CMR images to inform diagnosis and treatment decisions by clinicians.
Dr Bram Ruijsink is a cardiologist in training at University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands and post-doctoral clinical fellow at the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging sciences at King’s, focussing his research on application of AI in cardiac imaging. Dr Esther Puyol is a CME fellow at the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences at King’s College London. Her main focus is developing new interpretable and quality-controlled AI systems for clinical application.
They have been collaborating over the last 4 years and together they have developed novel image computing and AI algorithms for medical image analysis, and applying them for better understanding and treatment of patients with heart failure.
Following the talk (45mins) there will be a Q&A (15mins)
CME Q&A with Reza Razavi: Opportunities for research staff from the King’s research strategy
Friday 14th May 2021
10:45am – 11:30am
Please join us to hear Vice-President & Vice-Principal (Research) Reza Razavi outline the new opportunities for research staff followed by a Q&A session.
You can submit questions in advance by emailing cme@kcl.ac.uk by 5pm on Thursday 13th May, or post them in the chat on the day
IoPPN Research Festival 2021 ‘Across the Lifespan’
Tuesday 27th April, 2021
2:00pm-5:30pm
IoPPN Research Festival 2021‘Across the Lifespan’
Please join us on the 27 April 2021 to celebrate the innovative and exciting research taking place at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ioppn-research-festival-2021-tickets
This year, the IoPPN Research Festival will be covering the theme ‘Across the Lifespan’.
With more than 20 five-minute talks on everything from the developing neonatel brains to the role of AI in dementia research, this online festival will also feature keynote talks by two world-class experts in their fields:
Professor Grainne McAlonan ‘Autism across all ages: What does a vulnerable brain look like? Can we shift biology?’
&
Professor Terrie Moffitt ‘Surprises about psychopathology revealed by following 1000 people for four decades’
This annual event is organised by the Research and Innovation Committee and this year, the IoPPN Research Festival will be covering the theme ‘Across the Lifespan’.
Speakers and talks at this event
14:00 Professor Ian Everall, Professor Mitul Mehta & Dr Paolo Deluca Welcome
14:20 Professor Grainne McAlonan Autism across all ages: What does a vulnerable brain look like? Can we shift biology?
14:40 Joyce Peters Why Diversity and Inclusion is a topic for everyone
14.45 Dr Tom McAdams Intergenerational Genetic Research: How it Has—and Will—Shed Light on the Causes of Psychopathology
14:50 Dr Lisa Nolan The impact of sex as a biological variable on the maintenance of auditory function across the lifespan
14:55 Professor John Marsden Cocaine Addiction: mental imagery and craving control
15.00 Dr Tatiana Salisbury Improving mental health: when expertise is not enough
15.05 Dr Matthew Grubb Getting nosey about brain repair
15.10 Dr Rali Dimitrova Characterising heterogeneity in the developing neonatal brain
15.15 Curie Kim 3-minute thesis finalist
15.20 Dr Katherine Young Anxiety and Depression during the COVID-19 pandemic
15.25 Chris Albertyn Dementia research in a digital age – the role of Artificial Intelligence
15.30 Dr Rina Dutta Data science to understand suicidality and self-harm in the digital age
15:35 Coffee Break (10 mins)
15:45 Professor Terrie Moffitt Surprises about psychopathology revealed by following 1000 people for four decades
16:05 Dr Louisa Codjoe TBC
16:10 Dr Rosalyn Moran Pushing Beliefs, Neuromodulators and Computational Psychiatry
16:15 Dr Gemma Modinos Neurobiology of psychosis risk: From mechanistic to big data approaches
16:20 Professor Gerome Breen TBC
16:25 Dr Maria Serrano Navacerrada TBC
16:30 Dr Virginia Carter Leno Associations Between Theory of Mind and Conduct Problems in Autistic and Non-Autistic Youth
16:35 Dr Sam Cooke TBC
16:40 Lucy Chester 3-minute thesis finalist
16:45 Dr June Brown Offering Accessible Early Interventions for Depression and Anxiety across the lifespan
16:50 Dr Lauren Carson The eLIXIR Partnership
16:55 Dr Petra Proitsi Deciphering the role of blood metabolites in midlife cognitive function and Alzheimer’s disease
17:00 Professor Matthew Hotopf Closing remarks
**times may be subject to change**
Organising committee members:
Paolo Deluca, Marija Magdalena Petrinovic, Jonathan O’Muircheartaigh, Robin Maginn, Annicka Ancliff and Josephine Mumford.
Fellowships: The good the bad and the ugly
Thursday 15th April, 2021
2:00pm-3:00pm
We are delighted to welcome, Jonathan O’Muircheartaigh and Jana Hutter presenting a talk titled:
“Fellowships: The good the bad and the ugly”
The aim of this session will be to go through some of the schemes available, the common aspects to them and cover the advantages / disadvantages. We’ll also go through the practical things of preparing for an application.
Note: Wellcome are having a special seminar on the 12th of April explaining their new funding schemes including the new post-doctoral scheme.
This session will be aimed at PhD students and post-docs.
Following the talk (45mins) there will be a Q&A (15mins)
A dedicated volume RF coil for infant brain and heart MR at 7T – RF and mechanical aspects for safe MR imaging
Wednesday 24th March, 2021
3:00pm-4:00pm
We are delighted to welcome, Jeremie Clement and Ozlem Ipek presenting a talk titled:
“A dedicated volume RF coil for infant brain and heart MR at 7T – RF and mechanical aspects for safe MR imaging”
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the developing brain and heart is an active research topic and has the potential to detect e.g. early brain injuries or to assess cardiovascular abnormalities. The studies are usually performed at 3T. However, in the last years there has been an increasing interest in 7T MR scanners as it promises higher signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio and spatial resolution. These advantages could particularly benefit neonatal MR imaging. In this presentation, we introduce the first volume RF coil array, based on dipoles, and dedicated to neonatal brain and cardiac MR at 7T. We will look at the main challenges, notably in terms of power deposition in the tissue. The mechanical structure to hold the infants body will also be introduced with the engineering and practical aspects involved in the design.
Following the talk (45mins) there will be a Q&A (15mins)
Adventures in Public Engagement
Wednesday 24th February, 2021
2:00pm-3:00pm
We are delighted to welcome, Pablo Lamata, Alice Taylor-Gee, Salomé Bazin and Samantha Johnson presenting a talk titled:
“Adventures in Public Engagement”
It’s National Heart Month so why not come along to the next CME Seminar all about engaging the public about our heart research? Learn about public engagement (PE) as an activity that, beyond the impact on society, brings value to researchers by:
- creating sparkles, waves that resonate and lead to innovation;
- recharging and expanding our personal motivation batteries;
- building the insights that would otherwise take us years to recognise;
- building the network of stakeholders that is actually needed to address healthcare challenges.
Hear about the PE adventures that academic Prof Pablo Lamata has had working with designer Salome Bazin and Evelina Children’s Heart Organisation CEO Samantha Johnson. Facilitated by our PE Manager Alice Taylor-Gee.: Public Engagement – CMIB
Following the talk (45mins) there will be a Q&A (15mins)
AI: Adaptability and innovation? – CME Career talk with Jackie Hunter
Wednesday 17th February, 2021
2:00pm-3:00pm
We are excited to announce Jackie Hunter (Board Director of BenevolentAI) will be presenting a Career talk titled:
AI: Adaptability and innovation? gaining insight into a fascinating and progressing career
In this career talk about her journey to from a behavioural pharmacologist to embracing the importance of AI in healthcare and drug discovery and development, Jackie Hunter will share some of the key things she has learnt on the way. These will include reflections on resilience, fluidity between academia and industry, fostering innovation and adapting to change.
Following Jackie Hunter’s talk (45mins) there will be a Q&A (15mins)
High-resolution quantitative first-pass perfusion cardiac MRI
Wednesday 27th January, 2021
2:00pm-3:00pm
We are delighted to welcome, Teresa Correia presenting a talk titled:
“High-resolution quantitative first-pass perfusion cardiac MRI”
Quantitative first-pass perfusion cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (FPP-CMR) is one of the methods of choice for evaluating myocardial ischemia. However, FP-CMR time frames must be acquired in real-time to capture the rapid passage of a contrast agent bolus through the heart whilst patients hold their breath, and hence, the spatial resolution and coverage of the heart is compromised. Moreover, perfusion abnormalities are often identified visually and thus, diagnostic accuracy is dependent on the level of training and experience of the operator. In this talk, Teresa will describe automatic quantitative methods that have been proposed, as part of her CME fellowship, to achieve an operator-independent assessment of myocardial perfusion without patients having to hold their breath, and to generate images with improved spatial resolution and heart coverage.
Following the talk (45mins) there will be a Q&A (15mins)
“Silence is Golden: An insight into neuroimaging applications with low acoustic noise techniques”
Wednesday 9th December,2020
2pm-3:00pm
We are delighted to welcome, Emil Ljungberg, Tobias Wood and Nikou Damestani together presenting a talk titled:
“Silence is Golden: An insight into neuroimaging applications with low acoustic noise techniques”
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners produce loud acoustic noise during data acquisition, caused by vibrations within the scanner hardware. These vibrations can be reduced using zero echo time (ZTE) pulse sequences, which enable efficient imaging with minimal acoustic noise. In this talk we will describe the concepts behind these pulse sequences, overall named as “silent MRI”, and their applications for structural and functional neuroimaging. We will describe how to achieve commonly used structural image contrasts including: proton density, T1, T2, magnetisation transfer, and T2*. We will also highlight recent advancements in silent fMRI in healthy participants using a ZTE-base technique known as Looping Star.
Following the talk (45mins) there will be a Q&A (15mins)
The MITHRaS (Next generation molecular imaging and therapy with radionuclides) project
Wednesday 11th November,2020
2pm-3:00pm
We are delighted to welcome Phil Blower, Paul Marsden and Andrew Reader together presenting a talk on “The MITHRaS Programme”
The aim of MITHRAS Programme is to make molecular imaging economic and accessible to patients by developing new, fast and easy-to-use chemistry for synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals in hospitals and centralised radiopharmacies. These innovations will empower emerging scanning technologies (notably Total Body PET and PET-MRI) and new therapeutic radionuclides to achieve the maximum impact on the management of patients with cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease and other diseases with high socioeconomic impact. Total Body PET in particular is a game-changing technology which will enable PET to generate major new insights into human biology and disease if supported by dedicated new tracer development and novel imaging physics and informatics. In this presentation we will outline how MITHRAS plans to develop these innovations in radiochemistry, biology and physics needed to realise this potential.
The programme has teams of researchers at King’s College London, Imperial College London and the University of Southampton, and is partnered with 16 additional industrial and academic institutions all working together to deliver new radiotracers to clinic.
Agenda:
Phil Blower: Chemistry & Biology
Paul Marsden : Total body PET challenges
Andrew Reader: Deep learning reconstruction for multi-tracer imaging
Mansoor Saqi, Head of Translational Bioinformatics/ Honorary Senior Lecturer
Wednesday 21st October
2pm-3:00pm
Network Based Data Integration
Mansoor Saqi, Head of Translational Bioinformatics/ Honorary Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London
Two important challenges in precision medicine are the identification of disease subtypes, and the contextualisation of the molecular signatures associated with these subtypes to gain mechanistic insight. Network-based approaches can help to address both these challenges. We discuss the integration of multiple heterogenous datatypes for patient stratification, and the application of graphs for knowledge representation when exploring biological context.
The iFIND (intelligent Fetal Imaging and Diagnosis) Project
July 8th, 2020
In September 2012, the Wellcome Trust (WT) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) launched a one-off initiative to support development of innovative engineering solutions to intractable problems in medicine and public health.
In response to this challenge, a KCL-led consortium was created, involving Imperial College, Florence University, Toronto Hospital for sick kids and GSTT, and The iFIND (intelligent Fetal Imaging and Diagnosis) Project was proposed with the goal of radically changing current antenatal screening practice, focusing on the anomaly scan which is routinely performed by ultrasound (US) at around 20 weeks gestational age.
The Gift-Surg (Guided Instrumentation for Fetal Therapy and Surgery) project
June 22nd, 2020
The Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP), led by King’s College London and including Imperial College London and Oxford University aims to make major scientific progress by creating the first 4-dimensional connectome of early life.
Our goal is to create a dynamic map of human brain connectivity from 20 to 44 weeks post-conceptional age, which will link together imaging, clinical, behavioural, and genetic information.
This unique setting, with imaging and collateral data in an expandable open-source informatics structure, will permit wide use by the scientific community, and to undertake pioneer studies into normal and abnormal development by studying well-phenotyped and genotyped group of infants with specific genetic and environmental risks that could lead to Autistic Spectrum Disorder or Cerebral Palsy.
The Gift-Surg (Guided Instrumentation for Fetal Therapy and Surgery) project
Wednesday May 6th 2020
The Gift-Surg (Guided Instrumentation for Fetal Therapy and Surgery) project aims at building a novel platform to transform the safety and efficacy of fetal surgery. GIFT-Surg is led by Prof Ourselin at KCL in collaboration with UCL, KU Leuven and UZ Leuven in Belgium, Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London Hospital.
Our vision is to develop new instrumentation and software that will provide unprecedented capabilities for operating in utero, including enhanced pre-operative surgical planning, intraoperative guidance and advanced manipulation capabilities. Dr Andrew Melbourne and Dr Wenfeng Xia are project co-investigators leading on placenta MRI and ultrasonic needle tracking, respectively. They will present recent results of the work of their teams, currently undergoing pre-clinical validation.
REWIRED 2018: The Brain, Art and Innovation
Thursday 25 October 2018
Ondaatje Theatre
Royal Geographical Society
1 Kensington Gore
SW7 2AR London
Website: See Eventbrite for info and tickets
Professor Steve Williams will be taking part in this public and patient engagement event, with his talk: Imaging the Brain – Drumming up a Connection
Presenting an evening at the intersection of art and science!
Rewired features leading neuroscience researchers, artists, patient-advocates, and tech innovators each with a story to tell from a unique perspective!
Topics:
- Neuroimaging and drumming
- Disability and journalism
- Cycle of diagnosis, lived experience and dance
- Exploring natural treatments in clinic and poetry
- Diverse representation and fashion
- Designing for disability
NRM 2018, London – The XII International Symposium of Functional Neuroreceptor Mapping of the Living Brain
Monday 9 – Thursday 12 July
King’s College London,
Franklin-Wilkins Building,
Stamford Street,
London SE1 9NN
Website: http://www.nrm2018.org/
Follow us on Twitter: @_NRM18
Our understanding of neuroreceptor function is largely based upon the study of isolated proteins in vitro. However, brain neuroreceptors and molecular recognition sites should not only be studied in isolation in a test-tube. They are part of a complex, dynamic and communicating environment that makes the living human brain “the most sophisticated machine imaginable, or unimaginable.” – Joseph LeDoux
Join us at this biennial meeting, dedicated to the study of neuroreceptors in the living human brain – ‘Mapping Neroreceptors at Work’. The scientific program of this meeting will be multidisciplinary and translational, with a focus on the latest research on the study of in vivo neurotransmission:
- In vivo receptor-receptor interactions and interneuronal communication
- In vivo normo/pathophysiology
- In vivo / in vitro discrepancies in molecular recognition
- Misfolded proteins in vivo
- In vivo human pharmacology
- Evaluation of new therapeutics in vivo
Hot Stuff at Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition
Monday 2 – Sunday 8 July
Royal Society
6-9 Carlton House Terrace
London SW1Y 5AG
Visit the Hot Stuff stand at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition (2-8 July 2018) and learn more about how radioactivity can improve clinical practice, provide precise diagnosis and deliver targeted medical treatment.
We have prepared a set of exciting activities and we look forward to sharing details about our research, as well as hear your thoughts on the role of radioactivity in healthcare and everyday life.
Check out the presentation video below, join our Twitter campaign by using #SummerScience #HotStuff and come to the Summer Science Exhibition to try the hands-on demos we have prepared for you!
CME Seminar Series
Thursday 29 March, 12-1pm
Nevin Lecture Theatre, Ground Floor, East Wing, St Thomas’ Hospital
Live streamed to the Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Weston Education Centre, Denmark Hill
Join us to hear more about the research at the Centre for Medical Engineering.
Speakers:
- Dr Julia Blower
- Dr Pablo Lamata
Julia Blower: Julia leads Molecular Imaging within the Centre. She will present some upcoming CME projects.
Pablo Lamata: Pablo is a Research Fellow within the Biomedical Engineering Department. His research combines imaging and computational modeling to improve the management of cardiovascular disease.
CME Seminar Series
Thursday 22 February, 12-1pm
Large seminar room, 4th floor Lambeth Wing
Join us to hear more about the research that the Centre for Medical Engineering is supporting. This month’s seminar gives us a chance to hear from some of the Centre’s leads, who will outline our initiatives in Computer Science, Physics and Engineering, and Neurology.
Speakers:
- Prof Julia Schnabel
- Prof Jo Hajnal
- Prof Steve Williams