What did the secondment involve? 

During the secondment I built a generative model and a shape-based classifier for capturing variations in shape of hips with Dysplasia, one of the main risk factors for Osteoarthritis. This will potentially lead to a publication and can be a useful tool for the doctors with whom we work. This model can be useful for understanding modes of shape variation in hips, due to Dysplasia, as well as for a screening/risk assessment tool for assessing scans of patient’s hips, who may have Dysplasia and are at risk of developing Osteoarthritis.

Allen’s reflections on the experience: 

In terms of the benefits to me and my research, I developed further skills in Pytorch, and learned new frameworks such as PyKeops, to build algorithms for large scale shape processing, with extremely high dimensional data. As a benefit to my research, the frameworks and ideas I learned about during the placement were quite useful when translated to my work, and allowed me to scale up and improve my own algorithms. This also helped to formulate some interesting questions for my own research, through thinking about the problems encountered during the placement.

We plan to publish the outcome of the collaborative work done during the placement in an orthopaedics related journal, and I am open to collaborating on any further research directions that grows out of this project.

Working at the IMI was a lovely experience, and the team really made me feel welcome and helped settle into the new role. There was also a chance to learn about the other projects happening there, and chance for discussion and advice on your own research from the MIRAs.  I would absolutely recommend such an experience, as it not only allows you to widen your research background, but also to get an understanding of how valuable mathematical research can be in such a diverse set of problem domains, many of which I would not have been aware of prior to this.