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Research project

UKRI/EPSRC - REFORMIST: Mirrored decision support fRamEwork FOR MultidISciplinary Teams in Oesophageal cancer

Project overview

The Upper Gastrointestinal (UGI) multidisciplinary team (MDT) makes critical treatment decisions in every oesophageal cancer patient’s journey (e.g., neoadjuvant therapies, expedited surgery or palliation). This has a profound impact on survival and quality of life. Recent studies have highlighted that rising caseloads and time pressures can lead to inconsistent and suboptimal decisions. Machine learning (ML) offers the potential to standardise and deliver data-driven decisions. We will mirror the decision-making process by incorporating human-selected critical variables and work with practitioners to assess regulatory and practical challenges (as human-AI partnerships) to ensure that the solution is trustworthy for routine clinical use.

Staff

Lead researchers

Dr Ganesh Vigneswaran MBBS, BSc, PhD, FRCR

NIHR Clinical Lecturer
Connect with Ganesh

Email: G.Vigneswaran@soton.ac.uk

Other researchers

Professor Tim Underwood

Professor of Gastrointestinal Surgery
Connect with Tim

Email: T.J.Underwood@soton.ac.uk

Dr Zoë Walters

Associate Professor

Research interests

  • Target Prioritisation and Validation
  • Epigenetics and genomics
  • Cancer 
Connect with Zoë

Email: Z.S.Walters@soton.ac.uk

Dr Indu Bodala PhD

Lecturer in Computer Science

Research interests

  • Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)
  • Social Robots
  • Affective Computing
Connect with Indu

Email: I.P.Bodala@soton.ac.uk

Dr Zehor Belkhatir

Lecturer

Research interests

  • Design of estimation and control techniques, with convergence guarantees, for finite and infinite-dimensional systems
  • Robust predictive modelling and analysis of high-dimensional data (e.g., network, time-series, imaging)
  • The cross-over between artificial intelligence and mathematics for interpretable and robust computational algorithmic designs
Connect with Zehor

Email: Z.Belkhatir@soton.ac.uk

Research outputs

Machine learning to predict curative multidisciplinary team treatment decisions in oesophageal cancer
Navamayooran Thavanesan, Indu Bodala, Zoe Walters, Sarvapali Ramchurn, Timothy J. Underwood & Ganesh Vigneswaran, 2023, European Journal of Surgical Oncology, 49(11)
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejso.2023.106986
Type: article
The Oesophageal cancer multidisciplinary team: can machine learning assist decision‑making?
Navamayooran Thavanesan, Ganesh Vigneswaran, Indu Bodala & Timothy Underwood, 2023, Journal of Gastrointestinal Cancer, 27(4), 807-822
DOI: 10.1007/s11605-022-05575-8
Type: article