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Proposer
Marta Vallejo
Title
Multi-modal Data Integration in the Characterisation of Protein Aggregation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) using Deep Learning - Collaboration with University of Aberdeen
Goal
Gaining understanding of real research of neurodegenerative diseases using deep/machine learning. A final journal/conference publication is expected if results are of enough quality.
Description
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly debilitating neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons. Patients develop progressive muscle weakness, leading to death due to respiratory failure, which typically occurs after 3–5 years of symptom onset. ALS affects 1.75 – 3 out of 100,000 individuals per year. The existence of protein aggregates (TDP-43) in affected motor neurons is still a poorly understood hallmark. This project aims to increase understanding of these structures by utilising a real clinical Immunohistochemistry dataset collected by the University of Aberdeen and applying various machine learning techniques to enhance the understanding of TDP-43 aggregates at an individual level. A previous student project published (2023-24): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-90881-9 In 2024-25, we were interested in applying multiple explainability tools to assess the generated models. One of my 2023-24 MSc students is currently working as a research assistant in an EPSRC project, where outcomes from this year's student projects will be used for a future publication. This year, a new tabular dataset associated with the image dataset was given, and new student ideas are possible. Join the team!
Resources
A real clinical dataset gathered with annotations shared by our clinical collaborators.
Background
Interest in the topic and techniques. Good programming skills. Willingness to learn. Interest in healthcare.
Url
Difficulty Level
Variable
Ethical Approval
Full
Number Of Students
3
Supervisor
Marta Vallejo
Keywords
machine learning, deep learning, medical imagen
Degrees
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Bachelor of Science in Computer Systems
Master of Engineering in Software Engineering
Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence
Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence with SMI
Master of Science in Computing (2 Years)
Master of Science in Data Science
Master of Science in Software Engineering
Bachelor of Science in Computing Science
Bachelor of Science in Statistical Data Science
BSc Data Sciences
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