Insigneo Newsletter - October 2023

Welcome to our monthly Insigneo newsletter!  

Our monthly e-newsletter keeps you up to date with events, funding, success stories and information. We hope you will find it useful! 

Unlocking the secrets of bladder dysfunction: $3.2 million digital twin project aims to combat global health issue

Pioneering technology aiming to uncover the mysteries of a bladder dysfunction that affects millions of people is being developed thanks to a partnership between the University of Sheffield and the University of Pittsburgh.

Insigneo member Dr Paul Watton from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Computer Science is working with researchers at the University of Pittsburgh to create a digital twin, a 3D digital model of the bladder to improve treatment strategies.

The project - A Digital Twin for Designing Bladder Treatment informed by Bladder Outlet Obstruction Mechanobiology (BOOM) - has been awarded a $3.2 million NIH-R01 grant, with around $500k going to the University of Sheffield. The proposal was ranked in the top 2 per cent of proposals with very high scores for novelty and potential real-world impact.

Interview: artificial intelligence and cardiac MRI assessments

Insigneo Research theme director for Imaging Life, Dr Andrew Swift, Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield's School of Medicine and Population Health, talks to Express Healthcare about an artificial intelligence cardiac diagnostic tool developed by scientists and clinicians from the University of Sheffield’s Insigneo Institute and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals which provides a super-fast analysis of the heart’s function, spotting heart damage on MRI heart scans in seconds.

Data Connect launch

The launch of Data Connect, a new service to improve researcher access to health and social care data, took place on 14 September 2023 at The Diamond Building.

This event was opened by Professor Ashley Blom, Chair of Data Connect Board and Vice-President and Head of the Faculty of Health, and showcased the development of the Data Connect service as a key University of Sheffield innovation that will deliver significant efficiencies to researchers working within health and social care.

Professor Suzanne Mason, Academic Lead for Data Connect and Insigneo deputy research theme director for healthcare data/AI said, “The launch of the University of Sheffield Data Connect service is an important strategic opportunity to grow our research and innovation through unlocking the potential that is held in real world health and social care data. The application of cutting edge data science techniques using this data provides the vehicle to deliver improvements to the lives of our population through better detection, diagnosis, care and treatment.”

University of Sheffield one of England’s best for working with businesses and public engagement

The University of Sheffield has once again been recognised as one of the best universities in the country for working with businesses, developing IP, commercialising research and public and community engagement, according to the latest Knowledge Exchange Framework.

The Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF), published 27 September 2023 by Research England, highlights the University of Sheffield's strength in, and commitment to, working with partners from all sectors to help them find solutions to some of their biggest challenges, as well as major issues facing society, such as health inequality and sustainability.

The results from this third iteration of KEF again place Sheffield in the top 20 per cent for working with businesses, developing IP and commercialising research. It also places Sheffield as one of the country’s leading universities for working at a range of scales, from small local firms to national big businesses. 

The University has launched “The Commercialisation Journey”, a comprehensive programme of support that allows staff and PhD students to explore the spinout or licencing potential of their research.

From protecting your intellectual property to investing in your innovations, The Commercialisation Journey is an established route to knowledge exchange, impact and financial reward. We’re open to all career stages. Find out how our experienced team can support you on our website

Insigneo Commercialisation Manager, Alex Wilkinson, has a background in development of medical devices and is available to support Insigneo members to achieve wider reach and rapid clinical translation of technologies.

Strong Insigneo representation at BioMedEng23 Conference, Swansea

Image: Tugba Cebe Karaduman presenting her poster on 'Quantification of collagen fibre orientation in osteogenesis imperfecta fibroblast on polycaprolactone scaffolds

BioMedEng is the largest gathering of biomedical engineers, medical engineers and bioengineers in the UK. The 2023 annual conference was hosted by Swansea University on 14 - 15 September at the Swansea Arena.

Insigneo members had a significant presence at the event with Professor Damien Lacroix, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, chairing the session on Data Analysis, Machine Learning & AI and Professor Gwen Reilly, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, chairing the session on Cell/Tissue Engineering.

Professor Reilly, is chair of of the BioMedEng Association's Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) working group, and organised the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion workshop to introduce the working group and present some EDI issues and initiatives from partner universities. 

There were also presentations from the following Insigneo members:

• Ellen Buckley -  Exploring the relationship between digital mobility outcomes and a predictive risk score for disease
• Stamatina Moraiti - A new stochastic approach for assessment of treatment effects on osteoporotic mouse bone geometry
• Saleh Pouresmaeeli - Novel stochastic finite element solver to quantify uncertainties in bone mechanics
• Frederik M Trommer -  Code verification of the micro finite element solver ParOSol using the method of manufactured solutions

It was wonderful to see Insigneo members Tecla Bonci, Kirsty Scott, Saleh Pouresmaeeli on the BioMedEng ECR Working Group.

Follow us on LinkedIn

We’re changing how we use LinkedIn. From now on we’ll be using Insigneo’s company page to share updates so please make sure you are following this page: https://www.linkedin.com/school/insigneo-institute/ 

MedTech SuperConnector MSK Innovation Accelerator Programme

The programme, supported by Orthopaedic Research UK, provides entrepreneurship training, 1-on-1 industry guidance, and curated digital learning content to innovators keen to further develop and scale their musculoskeletal ventures. At the end of the programme participants have the opportunity to pitch their venture to the ORUK Investment Committee which could result in up to a £100k investment.
 
This programme is open to MSK-related innovations at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 or above from research fellows, postdocs, late-stage PhD candidates or innovators from Academic Research Centres, Small to Medium Enterprises with research labs, or clinical institutes with a medical technology in development.

ESB 2024 Congress - Edinburgh, Scotland: Call for perspective talks

The 29^th Congress of the European Society of Biomechanics taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland from 30th June to 3rd July 2024.

The main theme of the congress – Biomechanics from research to practice – brings the focus on the importance of the dialogue and collaboration between the biomechanics and the clinical communities. 

Senior researchers are invited to submit perspective talks in their area of research.

A Perspectives Talk (PT) is a ‘mini-keynote’, i.e., an extended presentation that introduces a session. PT is given by an established researcher or tandem of experts from different fields/backgrounds with focus on a cutting edge, coherent body of research. It should give a brief overview of results and unanswered questions, based mainly, but not exclusively on their own and their group’s contribution to this field, and must include future vision and challenges to be targeted. PTs are intended to encourage intergenerational and multidisciplinary networking and to give scientists the opportunity to learn from those with more experience.

NC3Rs CRACK IT 2023 Challenges

Applications are now open to solve four new CRACK IT Challenges in collaboration with 15 Sponsors from academia, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

This year’s Challenges include improving the utility of organ-on-chip technology, new approach methodologies for toxicity testing of pharmaceuticals and chemicals and systems for a step change in behavioural and welfare assessment for mice.

More details about each Challenge, including recordings of the launch webinars, can be found on the Challenge pages:

• SensOoChip – Increasing the reproducibility and predictive power of organ-on-chips through multiparametric real-time monitoring and data modelling.
  Application deadline: Thursday 26 October, 12.00 (BST)
• CrossDART – Multi-species in vitro developmental toxicity testing.
  Application deadline: Thursday 26 October, 12.00 (BST)
• FET4Thyroid – A Fish Eleutheroembryo Test for thyroid activity.
  Application deadline: Thursday 2 November, 12.00 (GMT)
• aTRACKtive – Improved in vivo identification system for real-time, early-life individualised tracking and behavioural and welfare analysis in mice.
  Application deadline: Thursday 2 November, 12.00 (GMT)

Dr Joey Shepherd elected to Chair-elect of  the Federation of Infection Societies

Congratulations to new Insigneo member, Dr Joey Shepherd, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at the School of Clinical Dentistry, who has been elected to the prestigious role of Chair-elect of the Federation of Infection Societies (FIS). She will serve as Chair-elect 2024-2026 and Chair 2026-2028.

As part of her role, she will enhance links between the Society conference programmes and Society Journals, ensure the Society is fully represented, participate in the scientific programme at annual meetings, and support the delivery of the programme during the Microbiology Society hosting years.

See Dr Shepherd's profile below.

New members

The Insigneo Institute's membership continues to see strong growth and we are celebrating reaching 300 members this month!

We would like to introduce some of our new members who have joined the Insigneo Institute recently, with a special welcome to Suzie Coldman, our 300^th member!

In addition, she recently achieved an MSc Advanced Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sheffield, with a master's dissertation on the use of Finite Element analysis to investigate cartilage defects due to osteoarthritis.

Suzie is a first year PhD student, part of the Integrated Musculoskeletal Biomechanics (IMSB) group and supervised by Dr Xinshan Li and Dr Elspeth Whitby. Her project is focused on shape and textural analysis of the placenta in MRI, to identify structural and morphological changes as a result of Fetal Growth Restriction and Placenta Accreta Spectrum disorder. She will also be exploring the use of deep learning as part of the segmentation and analysis process. The output of this research aims to aid clinician's in the diagnosis of abnormal placenta.

 My research focuses on 3D printing and electrospinning techniques and I also have research interests in biomimicry. I really enjoy materials-related outreach to young people to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists! I am looking forward to making connections through Insigneo and getting some clinical opinions on the current research around synthetic skin.

He completed his medical training at Norwich Medical School in addition to a Master in Research from the University of Manchester and a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education from the University of Sheffield.

Mahan is interested in the application of AI to medical imaging and he has contributed to several publications in this field. He has worked as a Research Associate in Dr Andy Swift's research group, collaborating with Janssen and US2AI to assess the performance of their automated echocardiography tool. 

A move to the University of Sheffield followed with an M.Med.Sci. In Microbial Pathogenicity (1996) and a two year stint as a Research Technician in the Vascular Surgery Unit at Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital.

I completed a PhD (1998-2002) and Postdoc (2002-2004) at the University of Sheffield with Dr Martin NIcklin investigating autoimmune inflammatory diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and arteritis) in mice lacking the gene for interleukin 1 receptor antagonist, and then continued the vascular theme as a Fellow at Harvard Medical School, Boston USA (2004-2007) developing near infra red fluorescence probes to detect early molecular events in atherosclerosis with Prof. Peter Libby.

A move back to Sheffield saw another three postdoc posts come and go, combining all the previous experiences in investigating tumour microvasculature, biodiesel production in micro algae, and the development of polymers to detect and remove bacteria from chronic skin wounds.

I took up my first academic post as a Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at Sheffield Hallam University (2014-2015) then returned to the University of Sheffield as a Lecturer in Microbiology at the School of Clinical Dentistry in 2015. I was promoted to a Senior Lecturer in December 2019. 

My current research interests are largely translational and interdisciplinary in nature and lie primarily in novel approaches to a) the acceleration of wound healing, and b) detecting, preventing and treating bacterial infections (especially biofilm) without traditional use of antibiotics due to the rise in antimicrobial resistance. These include the use of polymer-based systems, ultrasound and acoustic vibration, novel wound dressings, antimicrobial biomaterials for dentistry, bone, skin and cornea and using 3D tissue engineered models to examine effects of planktonic and biofilm infection and treatment on both bacteria and human cells.

Link to full profile

His research focuses on advancing the field of healthcare diagnostics through integrating multimodal health data and developing an accurate diagnostic system for life-threatening diseases. He uses graph neural networks to comprehensively analyse progressive diseases, particularly in multiomics data, to identify key biomarkers associated with specific disease conditions.

Furthermore, his research tackles large-scale healthcare data challenges through multi-agent systems for joint feature selection. This approach captures intra-omics and cross-omics interactions and reduces the dimensionality of data while preserving crucial information. This enhances computational efficiency and model interpretability, facilitating better healthcare decision-making.

Previously, after postdoctoral fellowships at Heidelberg University, Germany, and ETH Zurich, Switzerland, I joined the University of Nottingham as an independent research fellow in computational neuroscience.

In my research, I develop data-driven computational modelling approaches for linking neural dynamics and complex learning behaviours in songbirds, rodents, and humans. My current research focus is applying computational and experimental approaches (behavioural, MRI) to understanding individual variations in both healthy and clinical populations. I am very interested in pursuing this research in collaboration with clinical and imaging researchers at Insigneo.

Do you have news to share with us?

If you would like us to include information and/or events to this newsletter please email: news@insigneo.org (the newsletter will be issued during the 2nd week of the month, excluding January and August). 

Insigneo members - please let us know when your students are graduating so that we can celebrate their success!

Please ensure that you submit items for inclusion with a minimum of one week's notice.

Guest Lectures, Conferences & Seminars

We will share a link to our Online Training Opportunities document here each month.

Insigneo events

10 October
Insigneo Seminar: Professor Merryn Tawhai, Director of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland, New Zealand

22 November
Insigneo Seminar: Dr Jinju Chen, Reader in Biointerface Engineering, Newcastle University

28 November
Insigneo joint research theme workshop: Computational modelling in medicine/Imaging life/Smart devices and sensors (digital twins) 

A selection of Insigneo seminar recordings are available to view on our YouTube channel.

Other events

10 - 12 October
Avicenna Days 2023 on Diversity & Inclusion in the In Silico Approaches

11 October
HELSI Bites: Designing Drugs to Fight Sepsis

Shef.AI Community Meeting 6

13 October
Bateson Centre bi-annual Symposium

16 October
Sano seminar: 108. Strategy Of Living Organism – The Simulation Model

17 October
Medical Supply Chain & Medical Manufacturing Showcase, AMRC Cymru
Event for MedTech companies, clinicians and academics, jointly hosted by AMRC, Innovate UK EDGE, KTN, Health Innovation NW Coast, MediWales

26 October
SheffieldR Reboot : Quarto for slides

8 November
N8 CIR: Data Access for Digital Health

8 - 9 November
Child Health Technology conference (CHT 2023) 

For a full list of upcoming events visit: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/insigneo/overview/events

Vacancies

4 x Early Career Research Fellow - The Physics of Life and Quantitative Biology
(Closing date: 3 November 2023)

Research Associate in image computing
(Closing date: 30 October 2023)

Publications

Effect of Muscle Forces on Femur During Level Walking Using a Virtual Population of Older Women (Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)) Z. Altai, E. Montefiori, X. Li

Translating digital healthcare to enhance clinical management: a protocol for an observational study using a digital health technology system to monitor medication adherence and its effect on mobility in people with Parkinson's (BMJ Open) E.Packer, H. Debelle, H.G. B. Bailey, F. Ciravegna, N. Ireson, J. Evers, M. Niessen, J. Q. Shi, A. J. Yarnall, L. Rochester, L. Alcock, S. Del Din

Insights into surface chemistry down to nanoscale: An accessible colour hyperspectral imaging approach for scanning electron microscopy
(Materials Today Advances) J. F. Nohl, N. T. H. Farr, Y. Sun, G. M. Hughes, N. Stehling, J. Zhang, F. Longman, G. Ives, Z. Pokorná, F. Mika, V. Kumar, L. Mihaylova, C. Holland, S. A. Cussen, C. Rodenburg

Assessing the Quality of Oxygen Plasma Focused Ion Beam (O-PFIB) Etching on Polypropylene Surfaces Using Secondary Electron Hyperspectral Imaging
(Polymers) N. T. H. Farr, M.j Pasniewski, A. de Marco

Electro-assisted assembly of conductive polymer and soft hydrogel into core-shell hybrids (Soft Science) A. C. Da Silva, T. E. Paterson, I. R. Minev

Electrochemically Driven Assembly of Chitosan Hydrogels on PEDOT Surfaces
(Macromolecular Materials and Engineering) A. C. Da Silva, C. Amadou-Douah, S. Koiliari, J. Du, R. K. K. Chauhan, T. E. Paterson, I. R. Minev

Neonatal Hip Loading in Developmental Dysplasia: Finite Element Simulation of Proximal Femur Growth and Treatment (HSS Journal) S. M. Sadeghian, O. J. Arthurs, X. Li, C. L. Lewis, S. J. Shefelbine

Hyperpolarised xenon-129 diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for assessing lung microstructure in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
(ERJ Open Research) J. A. Eaden, N. D. Weatherley, H.-F. Chan, G. Collier, G. Norquay, A. J. Swift, S. Rajaram, L. J. Smith, B. J. Bartholmai, S. M. Bianchi, J. M. Wild

Osteocytes and Primary Cilia (Current Osteoporosis Reports) S. W. Verbruggen, A. Sittichokechaiwut, G. C. Reilly

Surfactant-free gelatin-stabilised biodegradable polymerised high internal phase emulsions with macroporous structures (Frontiers in Chemistry) R. Furmidge, C. E. Jackson, M. F. Velázquez de la Paz, V. L. Workman, N. H. Green, G. C. Reilly, V. Hearnden, F. Claeyssens

Evaluating the use of a novel low-cost measurement insole to characterise plantar foot strain during gait loading regimes (Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology) S. R. Crossland, H.i J. Siddle, C. L. Brockett3,  P. Culmer