Opportunities

The Faculty of Health and Medicine in partnership with the Data Science Institute at Lancaster University is looking for a highly qualified candidate for our PhD programme. This project is an exciting opportunity to develop new Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), a life-limiting rare disease that is caused by accumulation of toxic proteins in the heart and peripheral nerves. As this disease often presents with vague symptoms which overlap with other diseases, diagnosis is often delayed by many years. There are now novel treatments that can prolong survival in these patients, so early diagnosis is essential.  

The project will develop novel Natural Language Processing (NLP) models to interrogate echocardiogram (heart scan) and nerve conduction study (NCS; nerve test) reports to identify findings in keeping with a diagnosis of amyloidosis. Raw echocardiogram and NCS data are highly complex and require interpretation from an experienced clinician in context with the individual patient’s signs and symptoms. While the written reports do not contain all the original data, they do include key data plus a clinical interpretation. Therefore, we feel that interrogation of the reports, rather than the raw data, will have increased utility for the diagnosis of amyloidosis. Patients with both echocardiogram and NCS reports in keeping with amyloidosis can then be directed for ATTR genetic testing, and life-prolonging treatment. This project therefore holds potential to save lives.  

The project will encompass the use of a broad range of techniques and methodologies. Medical Concept Annotation Tool (MedCAT) will be used to extract the study reports from the electronic patient record and link concepts to SNOMED-CT clinical terminology. Identified outcomes will be mapped to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP) Common Data Model, where possible.  

This PhD is a fantastic opportunity to join a highly skilled and experienced Health Data Science team at Lancaster University, where there is already ongoing pilot research using NLP in the field of Neurology. The project will be collaborative across the domains of Data Science and Medicine. Lancaster University hosts the Lancaster Intelligent, Robotics and Autonomous systems (LIRA) Centre, a centre of research excellence into AI technologies, with European and global networks. There is potential for the project to branch into developing AI technology for other disease areas, as echocardiograms and NCS have broad utility in clinical practice. Given the goal of the project is to identify patients with ATTR, who may be suitable for novel treatment, there is also potential for pharmaceutical industry collaboration.  

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