Past events and statistics of attendance:
| Event date | Event theme | Number of people who attended | Disciplines or departments represented |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 August 2010 | Mathematical Modeling of Dynamics in Biological Systems | Mathematics, Biology, Physics | |
| 12 March 2010 | Understanding and modelling biological and medical flows | 30 |
School of Engineering and Materials Science, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Barts and The London Hospital |
| 10 March 2010 | Inside and outside of computers and minds | 30 |
EECS, Institute of Philosophy |
| 2 December 2009 | Optimal Design of Experiments - Theory and Applications | 20 |
Mathematics, Electronic Engineering, Sports Medicine, Computer Science |
| 30 October 2009 | 25 |
Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering | |
| 22 September 2009 | Computational and systems biology: mathematics and imaging in cell dynamics and signalling |
30 |
Mathematics (SMS), Electronic Engineering, Computer Science (EECS), Biology (SBCS) |
30 January 2009 |
Null models in complex networks |
35 |
Mathematics, Electronic Engineering, Computer Science, Medicine (SMD), |
7 November 2009 |
Combinatorics: when mathematics and engineering meet | 50 |
Mathematics, Electronic Engineering and Computer Science |
27 March 2008 |
Programme launch |
50 |
Mathematics, Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Engineering and Materials Science |
| 16 June 2008 | Foundation event: Multidisciplinary Veniculum |
40 |
Mathematics, Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Engineering and Materials Science |
| 26 June 2008 | Sandpit event: DoE for measurement of complex networked systems |
50 |
Mathematics, Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Engineering and Materials Science |
Funding applied for and awarded by BTG:
| Type of award | Aims & theme | Amount | How multidisicplinary capacity building is achieved |
|---|---|---|---|
Pump priming |
Drug nanoencapsulation, delivery and Prof. Gleb Sukhorukov, SEMS, nanoencapsulation and Prof. Wen Wang, SEMS. biomedical engienering |
£9,500 |
The primary aim of this project is to develop novel ways for nanoencapsulation, delivery and site specific release of selective Matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors in tissues. |
Pump priming |
Trauma Quality Improvement using Causal Modelling
Prof. Martin Neil, EECS and Lt Col Nigel Tai, The Royal London Hospital, |
£8,889 |
There is aneed at the Royal London Hospital to improve the quality of care by automating the quality assurance processes involved in trauma care. A number of problems that need to be addressed before the research challenges can be addressed. THey involve developing a more structured approach to data representation to allow the data to be used in a causal model, carrying out a data analysis to describe a QI data collection process to record the richer picture. This work will allow the team to develop a much deeper shared understanding of the data and the domain , and subsequently apply to the relevant NIHR streamts for further funding. |
Pump priming |
A modeling approach to aid the understanding of high-volume image guided injection (HVIGI) in recalcitrant Achilles tendinopathy Yiling Lu and J Mueller, SEMS and Peter Malliaras, Richard Twycross-Lewis, and Prof. Nicola Maffuli, Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry |
£ 9,960 |
The Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine has pioneered a new treatment for Achilles tendinopathy: the high volume imaging guided injection (HVIGI). Its mechanisms are unclear, but it can stop and even reverse the degeneration process inside the tendon. For the first time a specific numerical program based on poroelastic theory will be developed to model the injection process of HVIGI where patient-specific data can be inserted in the future study. This modeling will provide detailed mechanical responses of the Achilles tendon and Kager’s fat pad during HVIGI and will help understand and identify possible working mechanisms. This project involves two teams with complimentary expertise in numerical modeling and pioneering HVIGI treatment respectively. It will directly translate the fundamental science research at tissue level to benefit of Achilles tendinopathic patients by understanding and refining HVIGI. |
Pump priming |
Measuring gait in children with cerebral palsy:A pilot study proposal concerning ‘Statistical Design of Experiments’ and development of a ‘Gait Description Index’ Prof. Steve Gilmour, Mathematics and Dylan Morrissey, Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine, SMD |
£10,000 |
Kinetic and kinematic motion analysis is a useful clinical and research tool but has limitations in clinical practice because of patient fatigue and the sheer number of variables the system collects making data interpretation problematic. Human motion data are multivariate functional data, which have become the focus of much methodological interest from statisticians in recent years. The aims of the study are twofold. Data analysis will attempt to group variables, to create a Gait Description Index (GDI) to more accurately describe the differences between pathological and normal gait. Secondly, realistic initial estimates will be identified of the constants needed to obtain an optimal experimental design, which in turn will allow similar strength conclusions to be drawn from fewer data (statistical Design of Experiments - DOE). |
Pump priming |
Pilot Study: Digital Signal Processing for the Analysis of Rachel Ashworth Biology, and Katy Noland, Mathieu Barthet, and William Marsh, EECS |
£9,588 |
The project aims to develop a set of Systems biology is recognised by several research councils (BBSRC and MRC) as a priority area. The initiation of this work is timely and the grant will facilitate collaboration between biology and engineering at QMUL. The pilot data generated from the project will be used to apply for future external funding.. |
Pump priming |
Mapping Recorded Electromyographic Data to Movement using Wireless On-body Sensors and Infra-red Motion-Capture Technology Prof. Yang Hao EECS, Dylan Morrissey and Prof. Roger Woledge, Centre for Sports Exercise Medicine, SMD, and Prof. Dan Bader, SEMS |
£10,000 |
The fundamental aim is to conduct a feasibility study into wirelessly-enabling existing High Density -surface EMG sensors, whilst simultaneously reducing the size of the HD-sEMG sensor array. This feasibility study will determine optimal inter-sensor distances, obtain wireless signals within a feasible bandwidth and power-usage profile, integrate the required electronics and antenna with the HD-sEMG electrode array, and obtain HD-sEMG data. The aim is to establish the overall requirements that must be met by a wireless HD-sEMG sensor and to develop an initial prototype suitable for an investigation of the issues surrounding sensor design and implementation. |
Travel grant |
Statistical physical analysis of the dynamics of foraging bumblebees Reiner Klages, Lars Chittka and Tom Ings, School of Mathematical Sciences and Friedrich Lenz, MPIPKS Dresden |
£6990 |
Bumblebees have been a model system for animal movements for decades. However, patterns of such bee movements have so far not been described in formal mathematical terms. Our data analysis showed that the bumblebees neither perform pure Levy flights nor simple (Gaussian) random walks. The project will test if there exists a superposition of at least two different such distributions. If this holds true, this will enable the collaborators to construct a novel biophysical model of bumblebee foraging. |
Pump priming |
Accurate landmark localization and registration of 3D facial scans for the evaluation of orthodontic treatments in maxillofacial and oral surgery
Andrea Cavallaro, SEECS and Lifong Zou, Barts and The London SMD |
£5,000 (Co-funded with the DBI project; total fund is £10,000) Funds cover the salary of a research student |
The accuracy of current algorithms for localizing landmarks is limited by the prior knowledge of orientation and pose of the faces, and also by the availability of texture information. Moreover, these algorithms are not designed to handle cases where large facial deformations are present. This project aims to exploit the expertise from two different disciplines and aims to improve an image analysis tool for the accurate localisation of facial landmarks on 3D scans that was developed in SEECS. The automated localisation will ease the burden on clinicians who analyse the data and more importantly improve the accuracy of scan comparison. |
Pump priming |
Flow sensitivity and the likelihood of aneurysm rupture Jens-D. Mueller, SEMS John Wadley, Barts and The London (Radiology) Paul Butler, Barts and The London (Neurology) |
£3,500 (Co-funded with the DBI project; total fund is £7,000) Funds are for a software licence |
Aneurysms have a high rate of mortality in case they rupture, however currently there is no consensus in the field about the indications of when to treat unruptured aneurysms. There has been a number of studies in the recent years which propose that haemodynamic factors such a wall shear stress induced by the flow or intra-aneurysm pressure play a major role in aneurysm rupture. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations have been used to simulate the flow in aneurysm geometries. The aim of the proposal is to extend the study of a single patient to a larger cohort of subjects in order to confirm the hypothesis that flow sensitivity can be linked to an increased likelihood of aneurysm rupture. The proposal seeks funding for the image processing software that allows to extract the vessel geometry from the medical image. SEMS has the mesh generation and flow simulation software to complete the chain. |
| Pump Priming | Coagulation and Communications Raul J. Mondragon, SEECS and Prof. Karim Brohi, Barts and The London, SMD |
£8,838 Funds cover a PDRA |
The aim is to use the methods and techniques developed in SEECS for communications networks
to analyse and describe the coagulation network. The final objective is to obtain a representation
of the coagulation network that captures the dynamics of haemostasis. Our strong confidence that the methods developed for communication networks will be useful in the study of the coagulation network is based on the results of Gleiss et al., who have shown that the functionality of a metabolic network depends on its cyclical structure. |
Pump-priming |
Personalised Research Dashboard Laurissa Tokarchuk, EE Athen Ma, EE Nick Bryan-Kinns, CS Pat Healey, CS |
£7,756 Funds cover: Server and associated equipment Student assistant to develop the platform Conference attendance |
The dashboard infrastructure will require input from cognitive science and HCI, network design, measurement and analysis, thus building together researchers from EE and CS. It will: re-categorise researchers using new definitions oversoming traditional group barriers; make intellectual resources more readily available and easier to find; and reduce the amount of time new researchers spend on background searching on relevant information and peer researchers. The project provides building blocks to a variety of other multidisciplinary research. |
Pump-priming |
Terraherz imaging of molecular behaviour Rob Donnon, EE Tina Chowdhury, SEMS |
£9,500 Funds are for equipment and materials |
Apart from applying DFTS to biologic targets, the project will also partially embed antenna PhD students in SEMS and vice-versa. |
Lecture buy-out |
Writing of a responsive-mode EPSRC grant proposal; developing contacts with industrial partner John Schormans |
£2,748 |
The work will build on and expand the existing interdisciplinary collaboration between EE and Maths into STATISTICS APPLIED TO ADMISSION CONTROL IN 21CN PACKET NETWORKS. If accepted, the new project will fund an RA and an RS. |
Funding statistics:
Applications made |
Success rate |
|
| Pump priming applications | 15 |
11* |
| Travel grants | 4 |
2** |
| Lecture buy-outs | 1 |
1 |
* Most rejected applications were either not in the remit of BTG (not novel interdisciplinary research), except one, where the applicants had already benefitted from BTG previously.
** Rejected applications for travel grants did not demonstrate multidisciplinary capacity building.