EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training Cloud Computing for Big Data

People

Callum Simpson
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I have completed both a BSc in Computer Science and an MSc in Data Science at Newcastle University before joining the CDT in Autumn 2021. In my spare time, I enjoy doing a bit of gardening and reading.

The CDT appealed to me because of the supportive cohort environment, the links to industry and the opportunity to apply my computing background to solve some really interesting problems.

PhD title

Predicting epilepsy surgery outcomes using resting-state functional MRI brain networks

Surgery to treat epilepsy can be extremely effective, leading to complete seizure freedom for around half of those who undergo it. Unfortunately for the remainder, it's unknown before surgery what the post-operative outcome will be. Given that seizures arise from abnormal brain networks, and that surgery is an alteration to a brain network, the challenge of predicting outcomes can be framed in the context of network science.

The aim of my project will be to develop novel brain network metrics and use machine learning techniques to try and develop clearer predictions of what a patients outcome will be.

Supervisors

Peter Taylor, Tom Nye, Rob Forsyth