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Mrs Omnia Alwazzan

Omnia

Computer Science PHD Student

Email: o.alwazzan@qmul.ac.uk

Profile

Project:  Developing a deep multi-model fusion model for integrative healthcare
Supervision: Prof Ioannis Patras and Prof Greg Slabaugh 

Why do a PhD?
Academically, my decision to pursue a PhD was motivated by the requirement of my employer, who values advanced degrees for progression within academia. From my point of view, a PhD offers the opportunity to contribute to knowledge in a meaningful way, to push boundaries, and to make a tangible impact on society. Moreover, it opens doors to advanced career opportunities, particularly in academia and research-driven industries.

What are you researching and what led you work in this field of research?
My current research revolves around the integration of medical imaging with data sourced from electronic healthcare records. This involves (but not limited to) clinical data and 'omic' data to enhance diagnostic accuracy and treatment discovery. What led me to work in this field is that My Master's thesis explored image captioning which is under the multimodality umbrella, and that inspires me to expand my expertise into the realm of digital health.

Why did you choose DERI?
I think DERI fosters an atmosphere of knowledge sharing and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration. This aligns perfectly with my vision of engaging with like-minded individuals to push the boundaries of research while fostering social and academic growth.

Who has influenced you along the way and whose work do you admire?
Personally, my dad inspired me to love learning and exploring from a young age. I also admire the author Robert Greene for his tough mentality. In my research field, the list is lengthy, and not possible to mention here.

What impact do you want your research to have?
I aim to develop practical methodologies for multimodality fusion, empowering healthcare professionals to improve patient outcomes and advance medical research.

What is the most intriguing puzzle that your research has revealed so far?
Not sure how to answer this question, the whole Ph.D. is a puzzle, containing 3 mini puzzles which are the 3 years of the Ph.D. degree.  

What online resources do you recommend?
In all honesty, I've found that ChatGPT and YouTube have significantly eased my learning curve. As for tools, I highly recommend Spyder IDE or PyCharm Professional, especially since QMUL students can access the professional version for free using their QMUL email. Additionally, PyTorch is an invaluable programming language that simplifies the journey into the realm of AI

Have you any key tips on keeping  motivated throughout a PhD?
My key tip for staying motivated throughout a PhD is to remember that it's not a permanent state. Despite the inevitable challenges, if we approach it with the mindset that it's a finite journey lasting just a few years, we can endure and ultimately reap the rewards. Patience and commitment, coupled with consistent effort and unwavering determination, are essential ingredients for making the most out of this experience. My key point is to set priorities and goals, plan, execute, and then take a break.

Do you have time outside your Academic work for any special interests?
Not on daily basis, but yes of course from time to time I go running or walking long distances.

Highlights: 

Paper led by Omnia will be presented at the International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging, to be held in Athens from 27-30 May:  [2403.06339] FOAA: Flattened Outer Arithmetic Attention For Multimodal Tumor Classification (arxiv.org) 

Omnia presented her work at IEEE 2023 -  20th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI) in Colombia and Omnia will also be presenting again at IEEE 2024 in Athens in May 2024.
Omnia also works as a research assistant on a research project funded by AstraZeneca

Connect with Omnia:
Omnia LinkedIn
Github
Researchgate

Education Background information:

  • Masters degree from the College of Arts and Sciences, Computer Science School at Georgia State University (GSU), United States,(2017-2019). Research was focused in employing deep learning techniques in image captioning and classification projects.
  • Bachelor Degree in Computer Science from King Abdul Aziz University, Saudi Arabia.

Research

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