Dr G Czanner, Dr S Czanner
No more applications being accepted
Funded PhD Project (European/UK Students Only)
About the Project
Project description
Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness in India and in the world. There are an estimated 12 million people affected by glaucoma in India, the majority of whom are undiagnosed. The best chance of preserving sight is by detecting glaucoma early when treatment can preserve vision. Current research proves that colour fundus photographs have important information for detecting glaucoma. However, current algorithms are computationally expensive and black-box. It is also less known how to effectively extract the information and how this relates to other patient’s clinical data. We aim to develop statistical and machine learning models to study the link between glaucoma diagnosis and image from portable retinal camera.
Research objectives:
1. Develop a statistical/machine learning model (for AI) for automated glaucoma grading of optic disc for the images from portable fundus cameras.
2. Develop a mathematical model that gives personalised risk score for screening of glaucomatous disc.
3. Test the developed methods on online datasets and in real-world datasets.
This is a three-year project from strategic research collaboration between Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU, UK), Ulster University (UK) and Aravind Eye Care System (India). The research will be carried out jointly across these three institutions.
The successful candidate will work on statistical modelling, data analysis, multilevel modelling, machine learning, statistical discrimination and classification methods, computer simulations. He/she will learn how to collect data with mobile camera on healthy participants. The student will travel to India to work closely with collaborators, for short visits, during the period of the studentship.
Funding Notes
This project is funded by the British Council for Prevention of Blindness and LJMU.
Full funded studentship is available to UK/EU candidates only, full-time PhD study only, covering a studentship for three years. Successful applicants should expect to commence study in September 2020.
Applicants should have a good have a good honour degree (2:1 or above). A Master’s degree in Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Data Science or related discipline is desirable. Successful applicants will be based at Liverpool John Moores University and will gain expertise on statistical modelling, computer simulations, data science and machine learning in eye care.