Insigneo Newsletter - December 2025

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! 

Insigneo General Assembly and ECR Forum

We were really pleased to see so many Insigneo Members at our General Assembly on 13 November. It’s been another successful year for the Insigneo Institute as we continue to grow and see the results of implementing our plans for driving innovative research at the interface of healthcare, engineering and science to transform health. We’ve seen phenomenal success via the Insigneo Commercialisation Journey, and we are working collaboratively with our strategic research partners to lead the growth of the region’s MedTech research and innovation ecosystem.

It has come to the end of their term for several of our Research Theme Directors, and we would like to thank them for their support and dedication over the last two years -  Tim Chico, Mahnaz Arvaneh, Alice Pyne, Becky Gosling, Alex Fletcher and Andy Swift. We will be recruiting for new theme directors over the next couple of months. 

We’d also like to thank new members Caroline Taylor, Mary Paterson and Francesco Magni for giving an interesting insight into their research with their talks at the General Assembly.

Many thanks to all of our members for their contributions this year.

Looking ahead to 2026, our focus will be on furthering our strategic partnerships with industry and international academic partners, attracting philanthropic donations in strategy with Campaign and Alumni Relations (CAR), developing strong bids for strategic grants, supporting more spinouts with the Insigneo Commercialisation Journey and Yorkshire Medtech - Place-Based Impact Accelerator, and continuing our support for early-career researchers.  

The Big Walk 2026: Saving Young Lungs

We are also pleased to announce that the Insigneo Institute will be the focus of fundraising for the Big Walk in 2026 - please hold the date Friday, 3 July 2026. We will be sharing further information in the New Year. In the meantime, if you are interested in taking part or volunteering on the day, you can register your interest and you'll be first to hear when sign-ups open.

Early Career Researcher (ECR) Forum

Many thanks to all of the ECRs who also attended our ECR Forum, our group dedicated to supporting Insigneo early-career researchers. The committee updated on their activities over the past year - highlights being a special Insigneo PubhD event with three Insigneo speakers and a zine workshop to network and learn a new skill to share research. The committee sought views on their plans for 2026 and will be sharing them in the New Year. A big thank you to our ECR group committee members for their contributions. 

Insigneo Showcase 2026 - save the date

We're delighted to confirm the date for our next Insigneo Showcase event. We look forward to seeing you at the University of Sheffield's The Wave Building on Thursday, 18 June 2026. Please mark your diaries!

This full day event is an opportunity for our members, funding agencies, regulatory agencies, industrial colleagues, and other academic groups in the UK to meet and see first-hand the innovative research produced by our Institute.

The day will feature:

• Sessions on the following cross-theme topics: 
  - Discovery/Methodology - the fundamentals of science and methods of research
  - Clinical Translation - translating research into clinical practice
  - Industry and Innovation - working with industry, developing partnerships, innovative technology and devices
• ECR flash talks
• Poster exhibition
• Networking opportunities with industry, funders, academics and clinicians.

Registrations will open in the new year.

In the meantime, you can read about last year's event here

Insigneo-led team awarded ARIA opportunity seed funding for fungal neural interfaces

An Insigneo-led team, headed by Dr Thomas Paterson in the School of Clinical Dentistry, has received opportunity seed funding from the Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) for a project titled Adapting Non-Pathogenic Fungal Networks Toward Next-Generation Neural Interfaces.

The team, which includes Insigneo members Dr Joey Shepherd, Dr John Hinchliffe, and Dr Milena De Felice, are exploring whether fungal networks could be used in brain–machine interfaces.

Neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders are the leading cause of global ill health and disability, incurring an annual economic cost exceeding $1.7 trillion in Europe and the USA.

Current neurotechnologies often rely on rigid implants, requiring invasive surgery and risking damage to brain tissue. Instead, the team will test whether non-pathogenic filamentous fungi can coexist with brain cells in laboratory models, while also exploring approaches to make fungal networks electrically conductive.

Hope on the horizon for women with urinary incontinence

Researchers have identified a promising alternative material for treating the condition of stress urinary incontinence.

A team of scientists and clinicians from the University of Sheffield  (led by Insigneo member  Professor Sheila MacNeil) and Sheffield teaching hospitals  (led by Professor Christopher Chapple) have spent the last eight years trying to get a better understanding of why polypropylene (PP) mesh causes problems, how to assess these problems and how to develop a material that presents a safer alternative for patients.

In a key study published in the journal Biomaterials (A critical comparison of polypropylene and polyurethane sling materials after implantation in a suburethral sheep model) the authors bring together their findings in which they compare a more patient friendly material made to mimic the patient's own tissue and based on a distensible polyurethane (PU) approved by the FDA for a variety of other purposes.

Novel robot to prioritise human safety in high-risk environments 

A next-generation robot that can function with human-like dexterity, allowing operators to perform precision-led operations in the world’s most extreme danger zones is the challenge being met by manufacturing design engineers at the University of Sheffield AMRC.

Insigneo theme director David King, head of digital design at the University of Sheffield AMRC, is leading the Remote Embodied Action and Control Hub (REACH) project, which is backed by £1.6 million from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

Women's HealthTech Innovation Network launch

We were very proud to co-host the launch of the Women's HealthTech Innovation Network (WHIN) with the Devices for Dignity: The NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in long term conditions.

We were delighted to welcome such a range of individuals to the University and would like to thank the participants for sharing their ideas, expertise and energy. It was clear from the discussions on the day that South Yorkshire has real strengths in this area and that there is a strong appetite to seize opportunities for the benefit of women. 

The event was opened by WHIN co-chair Vanessa Hearnden, with introductions from Insigneo Institute co-director Damien Lacroix, Devices for Dignity Deputy Head of Operations, Hayley Morris, and an introduction to the WHIN network from co-chair Rebecca Mawson.

In the afternoon, WHIN co-chair Dr Emma Lucas gave an overview of women’s health facilities and research in Sheffield and South Yorkshire.

Thanks to all of our speakers for highlighting some of the innovative work in the field of HealthTech research addressing Women's Health:  

• Dr Xinshan Li - Using AI and digital twin to tackle pregnancy challenges
• Professor Munitta Muthana - Trojan Horse to Spin-Out: My Research Journey
• Dr Paul Morris - Angina in women: from syndrome x to microvascular dysfunction
• Dr Alice-Amber Keegan, Emm Technology - Wearable device to collect menstrual data

If you are interested in health technologies which benefit women's health and want to meet others to help take you from idea to innovation, then please do join our network.

South Yorkshire leaders unite to advance region's £3.3bn life sciences sector

Leaders from government, the NHS, life sciences and both Sheffield universities united for a Summit aimed at unlocking South Yorkshire's potential and positioning the region at the forefront of the UK’s £100 billion life sciences sector.

Hosted by Innovation Network South Yorkshire (INSY) and Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber (HIYH), the South Yorkshire Life Sciences Summit brought together key stakeholders to develop a unified strategy for advancing the region's thriving £3.3 billion life sciences ecosystem.

The summit highlighted South Yorkshire's vital role in the national economy, with health and wellbeing accounting for over 15 per cent of all regional employment. The region boasts the highest concentration of medical instrument and supply manufacturers in England, with a thriving ecosystem of 275 health tech organisations spanning private companies, university centres of excellence and specialist NHS centres.

Insigneo co-director Jim Wild took part in the panel on Engineering/Manufacturing for Human Health alongside Insigneo member, Claire Brockett, Joe Langley, Jan Wolber and chaired by Keith Jackson

AMRC FerretWorks programme: Turning bold ideas into breakthrough innovations

Image: The Nasalyzer team visiting the AMRC (l-r) Luisa Maria Bautista de Deus, Marcus Crossley, Guillem Wetherell Mateu, David King and  Scott Herod.

The AMRC FerretWorks: Startup programme is supporting early-stage entrepreneurs in the South Yorkshire region by bringing the centre's world-class resources to those with bold ideas and the ambition to scale.

Eight teams of inspiring entrepreneurs have already joined the programme. This first cohort of innovators will work closely with AMRC engineers to refine their concepts, prototype, and take important steps towards developing their businesses. Collectively, they cover a diverse range of markets including healthcare, software, engineering and sport.

The teams include Insigneo Institute MedTech commercialisation training programme alumni, Luisa Maria Bautista de Deus de Carvalho and Dr Christian Morgner.

Insigneo Commercialisation Manager, Alex Wilkinson, said: ”It’s fantastic to see our Nasalyzer and Tasty Spoon teams securing this opportunity to take their ideas on to prototyping and testing with the support of AMRC’s world-class engineering expertise”.

Sano PhD Training: Machine Learning for Multimodal Research and Healthcare: From Theory to Practice

In September, Insigneo welcomed researchers and staff from Sano for a structured training week. This year was collaboratively delivered by Sano and Insigneo and entitled: Machine Learning for Multimodal Research and Healthcare: From Theory to Practice, and made open to Insigneo researchers.

Jose Sousa from Sano led the first two days, introducing machine learning with examples of its use in healthcare, with contributions from Kamil Woźniak, Jan Argasinski, Mahmoud Nasr, Yousef Khan and Joan Falcó-Roget.

Ian Halliday, from Insigneo, took the baton on Wednesday and Friday mornings, describing the strengths and limitations of mechanistic models, then developing how artificial intelligence can be used to enhance them, from the use of emulators to physics-inspired neural networks.

The Sano participants presented their own research projects to each other and Insigneo staff on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday morning, Albert Marzo, from Insigneo, and Jose Sousa provided a case study of how they collaborated using Jose's machine learning framework, CACTUS, with data from Alberto's research on cerebral aneurysms.

The week concluded with a panel discussion with contributions from Enrico Dall'Ara, Shannon Li and Lingzhong Guo about integrating modelling and artificial intelligence. During their time in Sheffield, the participants were able to sample traditional pub fare with a pie supper at the University Arms, high dining at Halifax Hall and let their hair down racing laps on go-carts.

Thank you to all the Sano and Insigneo people who helped make the visit a success.

Sano: Krakow Conference on Computational Medicine 2025 - Enhancing Virtual Human Twin with AI solutions

Image: Dr Malwina Matella presenting.

The first edition of the Krakow Conference on Computational Medicine (KCCM 2025) was held on October 15–17, 2025, in Krakow. Organised by the Sano Centre for Computational Medicine, the Faculty of Computer Science, AGH University of Krakow, and the Academic Computer Centre CYFRONET AGH, the conference brought together a vibrant community of experts working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, data science, and medical research.

Insigneo member, Dr Daniel Taylor from the University of Sheffield's School of Medicine and Population Health, was invited to give a keynote lecture on 'Computing coronary physiology: Conception, Optimisation and Clinical application'.

The following insigneo members also gave oral presentations at the event: 

• Dr Malwina Matella, School of Computer Science - Towards the Development of Non-Invasive Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy-based Oral Cancer Diagnosis System.
• Grace Faulkner, School of Medicine and Population Health - Comparison of MRI-derived Cardiac Power with and without Deep Learning Acceleration.

The event was also attended by Insigneo members, Enrico Dall'Ara, Ian Halliday, Dawn Walker, Krzysztof Czechowicz and Norman Powell.

Dr Ning Ma awarded EPSRC grant for LungSight project

Congratulations to Insigneo member, Dr Ning Ma from the School of Computer Science, who has been awarded an EPSRC grant on "LungSight: Visual and Acoustic Screening for Early Detection of Lung Disease". The total funder contribution is £1.29m, with £311k to the University of Sheffield. Collaborators are from Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Southampton, University of Leicester, University of Cambridge, and University of Leeds. 

The details of the project are as follows:

LungSight: Visual and Acoustic Screening for Early Detection of Lung Disease

Lung disease is one of the biggest health challenges in the UK, but many people are only identified once damage is already severe. LungSight aims to change this by creating a low-cost, easy-to-use digital screening tool that people can use at home on a smartphone, tablet, or computer. By analysing breathing sound, speech, and subtle facial or upper-body movements, LungSight aims to spot early signs of lung disease, potentially before symptoms appear.

The project brings together leading experts in machine learning, speech and audio analysis, computer vision and respiratory medicine to develop new digital biomarkers and a large-scale multimodal foundation model for respiratory health. Working with partners including Asthma + Lung UK, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, and major technology and data organisations, LungSight is designed with patients and the public to ensure it is accessible and acceptable, especially for underserved groups.

By enabling earlier detection, reducing the need for hospital visits, and supporting NHS efficiency and sustainability, LungSight has the potential to transform respiratory care, helping more people get the right support sooner and live healthier, longer lives.

Ning was also invited to speak on 3 December at the Symposium on Voice and Speech Analysis for Health, hosted by King’s College London and the NIHR Maudsley BRC, and delivered a keynote on using voice and acoustics for respiratory health. The packed event was well-attended by academics, clinicians, and industry partners and there were really nice discussions about emerging advances in speech and voice technologies for healthcare.

Transformative lung imaging research recognised by international award

Insigneo co-director,  Jim Wild, has been awarded the 2025 Institute of Physics (IOP) Peter Mansfield Prize for his distinguished contributions to lung imaging with hyperpolarised gas MRI.

Dr Vee San Cheong secures prestigious UKRI Fellowship

Insigneo member, Dr Vee San Cheong , has been awarded the coveted UK Research and Innovation’s Future Leader Fellowship for her research on developing revolutionary 3D-printed orthopaedic implants for faster bone healing. 

Rising Star Award for Dr Krit Dwivedi

Congratulations to Dr Krit Dwivedi, who received a Rising Star Award from Société Française de Radiologie et d'imagerie médicale (SFR) during Journées Françaises de Radiologie (JFR) 2025, an international congress focused on medical imaging, in Paris during October. Rising Stars were selected from across the globe for their impact and international contributions to research. Krit was the UK award winner, and presented his ongoing work on AI and Computed Tomography (CT) imaging to improve care for Pulmonary Hypertension and lung disease. He was joined by other awardees across the globe from Brazil to South Korea to take part in a dedicated research development and mentoring programme. 

PhD success:

Congratulations to Insigneo members who have recently passed their vivas:

• Dr Areli Munive Olarte, School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
• Dr Bhoomika Gandhi, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

• Dr Sophie Hooper, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  Sophie is now a Stage 1 entrepreneur funded by EPSRC Commercialisation fellowships and is participating in Cohort 2 of our Insigneo MedTech commercialisation training programme. Her work helps accelerate a new method for the assessment and stratification of women at risk of preterm birth (CervOScan).

Insigneo Early Career Researcher community

Our Early Career Researcher ECR group is open to all Insigneo Members who are PhD students, postdocs, fellows, lecturers and those who self-define as an ECR.

Find out more and join

If you are not already a member of the Insigneo Institute and would like to join you can read more about the benefits and apply here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/insigneo/membership. 

ECR fellowship/grant writing Workshop

We run regular ECR fellowship/grant writing workshops (every ~2 months).

The aim is to allow ECRs to discuss with their peers any fellowship/ grant applications they might be preparing and to receive feedback in an informal setting. During each session we have one to two members presenting their work, followed by a round table discussion. This group is reserved for Insigneo ECR members who are seriously considering or are in the process of writing their first grant or applying for a fellowship. Please contact Damien Lacroix (d.lacroix@sheffield.ac.uk) or Neil Stewart (neil.stewart@sheffield.ac.uk) to express your interest in participating.

Opportunity for an ECR to join our committee as the lead for social events!

In this role, you will play a key part in fostering community connections by organizing engaging social and networking events.

If you’re passionate about building a vibrant community and have creative ideas for bringing people together, we’d love to have you on board.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us by emailing Sarah Black (sarah.black@sheffield.ac.uk).

The Insigneo ECR Committee
(Malwina Matella, Neil Stewart, Juntong Lai, Hazem Toutounji, Sarah Black, Sarah Hollely, chaired by: Damien Lacroix)

We would like to introduce some of our new members who have joined the Insigneo Institute recently. 

Find out more about Insigneo membership and our members here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/insigneo/membership 

She holds a PhD in Computer Science with a focus on Artificial Intelligence from the University of Lincoln, completed in collaboration with Imperial College London, where she developed advanced deep learning and optimisation techniques for cardiac ultrasound (echocardiography). Her work included cardiac view classification on ultrasound using neural architecture search, left-ventricle segmentation for automated ejection-fraction estimation, and the development of an optimised speckle-tracking algorithm that reduced displacement and strain-estimation error compared with classic block-matching methods.

Following her PhD, Neda worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the NEOPATH Research Group at the University of Sheffield, School of Clinical Dentistry, where she developed advanced AI algorithms for head and neck cancer using digital pathology, as part of Cancer Research UK–funded projects in collaboration with the University of Warwick. Before rejoining Sheffield, she spent two years as a Lecturer in Computer Science and Course Leader for the MSc Artificial Intelligence programme at the University of West London. She is endorsed by UKRI as an Emerging Leader and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Neda's research focuses on a wide spectrum of AI disciplines, with a particular emphasis on machine learning, deep learning and computer vision techniques, in healthcare domains such as medical imaging, computer-aided diagnosis and digital health. She currently leads a Royal Academy of Engineering Frontiers Seed-Funded project investigating imaging biomarkers for urinary incontinence in women, using advanced feature-extraction and AI techniques in collaboration with clinical partners in Turkey.

Neda welcomes collaboration across healthcare innovation, digital technologies in medicine, and Women’s HealthTech, and is particularly interested in working with clinicians looking to incorporate machine learning, computer vision, or explainable AI into their research. She looks forward to advancing interdisciplinary research and fostering cross-faculty collaborations within the University of Sheffield.

For my final-year project, I developed a machine learning algorithm to detect breast cancer in sonography images, using deep learning to explore safer and more accessible diagnostic pathways.

Before beginning my master’s, I spent a year working at UKRI STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, where I developed online scientific training courses for the Molecular Spectroscopy Group. These courses support PhD students and researchers preparing to conduct experiments at ISIS, and I presented this work at both national and international conferences.

Alongside my studies, I am involved in a student-led engineering initiative called Project Echo, which focuses on designing AI-enhanced hearing aids. I contribute to the promotions team, managing the LinkedIn page and supporting outreach and charitable engagement.

Looking ahead, I aim to continue working at the intersection of medical imaging, machine learning, and device innovation.

His research includes integration of machine-learning models for analysing technical skill, robotic assistance in endoscopic spine surgery (IDEAL 0), and clinical NLP applied to unstructured pituitary-surgery data to improve diagnostic precision and patient stratification.

Within the Insigneo Institute, he hopes to collaborate with engineers and computer scientists to translate emerging technologies into reproducible tools to enhance neurosurgical intraoperative performance and patient care. 

Second, to design symptom management protocols using brain stimulation (transcranial magnetic /electrical stimulation), electrophysiology (such as EEG), and computational modelling to understand and modulate the underlying physiology and pathophysiology. 

My work focuses on the biomechanics of paediatric bones, supporting a major effort to understand and ultimately reduce childhood fractures.

As part of the project, I lead the full-field strain quantification using digital volume correlation (DVC). By applying DVC to micro-CT derived datasets of children’s ribs, the research helps map how bone tissue deforms under load, providing essential mechanical insight that underpins the digital twin simulations. This work also supports investigations into the effect of vitamin D levels on developing bone strength across ages 0–16, forming a key part of a growing dataset aimed at improving clinical assessment and early detection of abnormal bone development.

Before joining Sheffield, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Portsmouth, where I applied cryo-micro computed tomography (cryo-micro-CT) to study soft tissue microstructure. I completed my PhD at University of Portsmouth, examining the full-field mechanical behaviour of the tendon-to-bone interface using in-situ micro-CT imaging and digital volume correlation.

My broader research interests include multiscale bone and soft tissue mechanics, contrast-enhanced micro-CT imaging, and biomimetic scaffolds for musculoskeletal tissue engineering.

Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Atousa-Moayedi

I am an MSc graduate in Cancer Biology and Therapeutics (University of Sheffield) with hands-on experience in clinical research governance, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), Human Tissue Act compliance, and digital pathology. I am trained in patient data management, anonymisation, and multimodal biomedical analysis across both academic and clinical environments at the University of Sheffield and the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford.

My research experience includes quantitative tissue analysis using Cell DIVE multiplex imaging, immune microenvironment characterisation, and computational pathology workflows in QuPath. I have worked on identifying and analysing germinal centres across developmental time points, integrating cell-type classification and spatial metrics to understand lymphoid tissue organisation.

During my MSc project, including time spent at the Kennedy Institute, I collaborated with multidisciplinary teams across clinical and research settings. These experiences strengthened my ability to maintain regulatory accuracy, manage ethically governed biological data, and support the operational delivery of clinical and translational studies.

I am particularly interested in applying biomedical and computational methods to cancer research, immunology, and digital pathology. My long-term goal is to contribute to clinically meaningful technologies and analytical frameworks that advance diagnostics, tissue imaging, and translational cancer research.

I welcome collaborations with researchers working in cancer biology, computational pathology, biomedical imaging, immuno-oncology, and translational medicine. If your work aligns with these areas, I’d be glad to connect.

My research focuses on using MRI to assess lung function, often utilising dynamic acquisitions or contrast agents to extract functional information.

Before moving to Sheffield, I worked as a Postdoc at UCL using inhaled pure oxygen as a contrast agent to evaluate lung ventilation and tissue oxygenation.

I have a strong passion for all areas of science and try to expand my knowledge in as many areas and disciplines as I can. I am keen to undertake volunteering and learning opportunities whenever possible, having so far completed a 6-week volunteering placement working at a sea turtle rescue centre in Athens, Greece, as well as a 2-week summer school in Cape Town, South Africa, where I gained knowledge on the politics, social justice, and history of the country. I believe there is a strong importance of interdisciplinary education; the relevance and value of knowledge in other disciplines adds another dimension to your ability to help and develop within your own field.

Alongside my degree, during my final year, I am also volunteering at The Julia Garnham Centre - an NHS-badged genomics research facility which works to reduce NHS cancer and rare disease backlogs. During this placement, I am receiving training in clinical genomics and practice in carrying out variant analysis.

Looking beyond my undergraduate degree, I wish to study a master’s degree in a pharmacology-based discipline in order to continue onto a career in clinical pharmacological research and drug development. In line with this, I am also an undergraduate member of The British Pharmacological Society.

Steph leads on delivery of the flagship Yorkshire MedTech Impact Accelerator at Sheffield - a £5m UKRI (EPSRC) investment awarded to the universities of Leeds & Sheffield to help bridge the gap between MedTech research and real-world applications. 

Steph is your first point of contact in Sheffield for any queries or support on the Yorkshire MedTech programme.  She works closely with the Insigneo core team to help members benefit from everything on offer through Yorkshire MedTech, including secondments, training/events and translational research funding. 

Steph brings extensive experience in policy development, partnership working and service delivery across local government and third sector organisations, having previously led the successful Healthtech agenda for West Yorkshire Combined Authority. She holds a PhD in Biological Sciences (Virology) from the University of Warwick and is enjoying being back in the university environment after many years out in the wild!

Follow the Yorkshire MedTech LinkedIn page

Visit the new Yorkshire MedTech website

I completed my undergraduate master’s degree at the University of Birmingham in
Electronic and Electrical Engineering, I then completed my PhD in AI for Medical
Diagnosis and Care at the University of Leeds. For my PhD, I researched the
detection of laryngeal cancer from audio recordings of patient speech, focussing on
the robustness of these systems to ensure their practical use in clinical settings.

My current research is on the use of Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) in the
diagnosis of oral cancer. I am using AI to analyse these signals to improve the
differentiation of cancerous and non-cancerous tissue. I am passionate about the
use of AI in medicine and in ensuring that practical and implementable systems are
being developed.

Previously, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sheffield and Queen Mary University of London. Before that, I did my PhD and Master’s degree here in Sheffield.

I’ve spent many years working in the lab investigating the role of biomechanics in cardiovascular disease using human cells and mouse models, and I am now ready to leave pre-clinical science behind. I am very excited about helping to set up research with a higher potential for real-world consequences and look forward to working with my new BRC colleagues and other clinical research professionals.

My background in Product Design (BSc) and Psychology (MSc) drives my focus on
the practical use of socio-technical solutions to address complex societal challenges and ensure safe, optimal technology usage.

My current research investigates the opportunities and barriers of AI and Pervasive/Ubiquitous Computing (such as smart devices or wearable sensors) for data collection and utilisation within Adult Social Care and disability contexts.

Do you have news to share with us?

If you would like us to include information and/or events to this newsletter please email: info@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

Please see our useful resource detailing Training and Development Opportunities relevant to Insigneo research themes, including events, conferences and seminars from the University and across a huge range of institutions and organisations. Please note that some are internal to the University of Sheffield.

Insigneo events

2026

15-16 January
Insigneo/Sano Modelathon: Computational modelling to improve management of ischaemic stroke, Sheffield/Kraków 

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

Other events

15 December
Sano seminar: Translating AI into Clinical Practice: Lessons from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

HELSI Bites: Restoring decline in age-related macrophage function using senolytics - To join via the meeting link: click here or Click here to save to your calendar (Hit Save to add to your calendar!)

2026

5 January
Seminar: AI-enhanced sputum-free diagnostics in TB: A focus on POCUS, Dr John Kondwelani Mateyo, University Teaching Hospital (UTH), Lusaka, Zambia
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (Hybrid)
Time: 12:00-13:00
Venue: Ada Lovelace Room 108, Regent Court (211 Portobello)
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/jog-vnkk-xqj

14 January
Health Research from Home webinar: Advancing cardiovascular monitoring: from radar sensing to wearable emergency detection

23 January
Living Well Conference, Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals - Save the date

29 January
Transforming cancer care through research and AI-driven technology: a showcase event

25 February
South Yorkshire Children and Young People's Health Research (SCYPHeR) 
Annual Research Day - abstract submission deadline: 19 December

6 March 
The 15^th Annual Mellanby Centre Research Day
To submit an abstract click here (please download form prior to completion) 
Deadline: Friday 9 January 2026
To register click here
Deadline: Friday 27 February 2026

24-25 June
2026 Hamlyn Symposium on Medical Robotics - abstract deadline: 31 January

29-30 June
Human + machine: clinician-led AI for tomorrow's healthcare - 2nd Annual Global AI Conference 2026 - super early bird deadline 22 September

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

Publications

Shape vs Flow: A 2D Statistical Shape Analysis of the Projection of Common Iliac Veins in Patients with Deep Vein Thrombosis (Shape in Medical Imaging) M. Otta, K. Zajac, M. Malawski, I. Halliday, C. Lim, J. Tsui, A. Narracott 

CLAIM: Clinically-Guided LGE Augmentation for Realistic and Diverse Myocardial Scar Synthesis and Segmentation (Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare ) F. Ramzan, Y. Kiberu, N. Jathanna, S. Jamil-Copley, R. H. Clayton, C. Chen 

Dose standardization for transcranial electrical stimulation: an accessible approach (Scientific Reports) J. Toth, M. Brosnan, R.-J. King, B. Ivanov, M. Arvaneh 

Digital assessment of real-world walking in people with impaired mobility: How many hours and days are needed? (International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity) J. Buekers, J. Chernova, S. Koch, J. Marchena, J. Lemos, C. Becker, T. Bonci, J. Braun, G. Brittain, E. Buckley, B. Caulfield, S. Del Din, H. Demeyer, A. Frei, E. Gazit, J. M. Hausdorff, A. Ionescu, C.-P. Jansen, J. Klenk, M. Long, B. Sharrack, D. Singleton, T. Troosters, A. J. Yarnall, L. Rochester, J. Garcia-Aymerich 

Relationship between areal BMD, FRAX®, and femoral strength in community-dwelling older Asian adults (Archives of Osteoporosis ) D. Jha, M. Chandran, D. Koller, V. S. Cheong, A. D. Praveen, A. Baker, P. Gupta, E. L. Lamoureux, H. Pálsson, S. J. Ferguson, B.Helgason 

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"-Rethinking NHS England`s inguinal hernia surgery decision aid (Hernia) N. T. H. Farr

Quantifying the local strain energy density distribution in the mouse tibia: the critical role of the loading direction (Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology) S. M. Farage-O’Reilly, V. S. Cheong, P. Pivonka, V. Kadirkamanathan, E. Dall’Ara

Derivation and sensitivity analysis of a novel one-dimensional model of coronary blood flow accounting for vessel taper and boundary slip (American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology) H. Saxton, D. J. Taylor, A.J. Narracott, K. Czechowicz, T. Newman, R. Gosling, D. R. Hose, L. R. Hellevik, J. P. Gunn, P. D. Morris, I. Halliday

Particle stabilised high internal phase emulsion scaffolds with interconnected porosity facilitate cell migration (Biomedical Materials) A. Munive-Olarte, E. Durgut, S. W Verbruggen, F. Claeyssens, G. C Reilly

Invasive validation of novel 1D models for computation of coronary fractional flow reserve (Cardiovascular Research)D. J. Taylor, H. Saxton, X. Xu, E. Yones, L. Aubiniere-Robb, T. Adikari, T. Newman, M. van ‘t Veer, D. C. J. Keulards, P. Tonino, R. Gosling, K. Czechowicz, A. Narracott, D. R. Hose, J. P. Gunn, I. Halliday, P. D. Morris

Baseline Impaired Insight Predicts Longitudinal Brain Atrophy in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Cognitive States: A 30-Month Cohort Study From the ADNI Dataset (Brain and Behavior) J. Wilkins, C. Muñoz-Neira, L. Su, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Comparison of Navier-Stokes and lattice Boltzmann solvers for subject-specific modelling of intracranial aneurysms (Computers in Biology and Medicine) I. Benemerito, J. McCullough, A. Narracott, P. V. Coveney, A. Marzo

An overview of reliable and representative DVC measurements for musculoskeletal tissues (Journal of Microscopy) G. Tozzi, E. Dall'Ara

Artificial intelligence in the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension (ERS Monograph) N. Karthikeyan, A. J. Swift

Electrospun Fibers of Polyhydroxyalkanoate/Bacterial Cellulose Blends and Their Role in Nerve Tissue Engineering (Macromolecular Materials and Engineering) E. Asare, B. Azimi, E. Vasili, D. A. Gregory, M. Raut, C. S. Taylor, S. Linari, S. Danti, I. Roy

Adenosine Receptor Mechanisms Underlying Bladder Dysfunction in Male Rats With Bladder Outlet Obstruction (Neurourology and Urodynamics) E.-i. Takaoka, M. Kurobe, K. Matsuoka, T. Kamijo, S. Kimura, P. N. Watton, A. M. Robertson, N. Yoshimura

Deep Learning Reconstruction for 129Xe Diffusion-Weighted MRI Enables Use of Natural Abundant Xenon and Improved Image Acceleration (Magnetic Resonance in Medicine) R. Sundaresan, G. J. Collier, N. J. Stewart, S. Chatterjee, R. Venkatesan, J. Wolber, J. M. Wild

Rethinking the Bland-Altman plot when quantifying virtual coronary physiology (Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine) D. J. Taylor, H. Saxton, I. Halliday, J. P. Gunn, P. D. Morris

Novel polyhydroxyalkanoate–graphene oxide composites with potential for clinical application against bacterial implant-associated infections in septic surgery (Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology) A. Paxinou, R. Nigmatullin, G. Paterakis, L. Sygellou, R. Viebahn, C. Galiotis, J. Salber, I. Roy

Towards automated chemical analysis of materials using secondary electron hyperspectral imaging and unsupervised learning (IEEE Access) J. Zhang, N. T. H. Farr, J. Nohl, Y. Lai, K. J. Abrams, K. Black

Sequen-C Explorer for Process Mining (CEUR Workshop Proceedings) L. Montana, M.-C. Villa-Uriol

Ensemble Control of a 2-DOF Parallel Link Arm in a Capsule Robot Using Oscillating External Magnetic Fields (Proceedings - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation) Z. Zhao, A. Hafez, S. Miyashita

Noninvasive monitoring of lower urinary tract dysfunction in rats with bladder outlet obstruction using uroflowmetry and ultrasonography (International Urology and Nephrology) K. Matsuoka, S. Kimura, T. Kamijo, L. Armstrong, M. Ramezanpour, B. McMahon, S. L. Daugherty, A. M. Robertson, P. N. Watton, K. Kim, Y. Kojima, N. Yoshimura

Towards Sensitivity Analysis: 3D Venous Modelling in the Lower Limb (Lecture Notes in Computer Science) M. Otta, K. Zając, M. Malawski, I. Halliday, C. Lim, J. Tsui, A. Narracott 

A Soft Fluidic Sensor-Actuator for Active Sensing of Force and Displacement Applied to Tissue Probes and Implants (IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics) J. Jones, D. D. Damian

In vitro and ex vivo models of the oral mucosa as platforms for the validation of novel drug delivery systems (Journal of Tissue Engineering) R. A. Macartney, A. Das, A. G. Imaniyyah, A. T. R. Fricker, A. M. Smith, S. Fedele, I. Roy, H.-W. Kim, D. Lee, J. C. Knowles

Effects of degradation-associated polypropylene particles in the surrounding tissue after surgical mesh implantation (Nature Reviews Urology) N. T. H. Farr, P. Achenbach, K.-D. Sievert