Hello, I’m Dr Annalisa Occhipinti and I am an Associate Professor in the School of Computing, Engineering, and Digital Technology at Teesside University.
My research work focuses on the development of AI models to support cancer research, including early detection of cancer and automated detection of cancerous tissues.
My passion for the field of Computational Biology started during my PhD at The University of Cambridge, where I worked on the application of mathematics and statistics to cancer research. Considering that my background was purely maths, learning about cells and cancer biology was a fascinating journey that increased my passion for the subject even more.
In my daily job, I apply my mathematics and computer science expertise to design advanced and accurate AI models that can support clinical decision-making. Most of my work includes the development of multi-modal AI approaches to predict cancer development using several data types. For example, integrating mammograms, CT scans, and clinical information.
I am very lucky to work in a field that is always evolving (especially in the last years) as provides plenty of opportunities for further development and makes my job always engaging and exciting. For example, the recent development of generative AI models (including the very well-known ChatGPT) inspired part of my work and we are now applying these models (such as large language models) to learn how cells communicate with each other and identify disrupted mechanisms in cancer tissues.
Many post-graduate students are involved in these research projects, in collaboration with local NHS Trusts, developing research work that could make a difference in people’s lives.
My research work is partially funded by URKI funding (EPSRC and BBSRC), the British Society of Breast Radiology, and Earlier.org.
Examples of published postgraduate research works:
https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-methods/fulltext/S2667-2375(24)00182-6
https://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1007/978-1-0716-2617-7_16
Dr Annalisa Occhipinti
