Predoctoral position in Artificial Intelligence in Fetal Medical Imaging - AIMIX

We offer an exciting PhD student position at the Universitat de Barcelona as part of the PhD Program in Mathematics and Computer Science and the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab (BCN-AIM). The selected researcher will focus on the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions aimed at providing access to antenatal screenings in developing countries, where access to data and specialists is often not feasible. Scientific frameworks for inclusive AI in medical imaging will be developed, and their relevance demonstrated, for accessible and effective obstetric ultrasound screening in resource-limited rural settings. Furthermore, integrative-adaptive learning methods will be implemented, to train inclusive AI algorithms, by combining big data from existing repositories with small-size imaging studies from low-resource settings. This position offers the opportunity to take part in the emerging fields of both artificial intelligence and medical imaging, by being part of the AIMIX ERC-funded project.

We are thus seeking candidates with a MSc degree and expertise in an area pertinent to the project and experience in machine learning, biomedical informatics, bioinformatics, deep learning, computer science, digital health and/or programming. Candidates must have excellent teamwork and communication skills, be enthusiastic about their research, and have creative problem-solving skills. The successful candidate is expected to be able to organise their work with minimal supervision, prioritise tasks to meet project deadlines, and represent the lab at meetings. Due to continual communication with experts from across Europe and Africa, advanced oral and writing English knowledge are required.

The research project:

In the AIMIX project we will develop an inclusive AI framework that will leverage and combine existing high-quality ultrasound clinical samples that can be obtained from standard ultrasound machines, with new low-cost ultrasound datasets that can be affordably used in resource-limited healthcare centres. To this end, the project will generate the first scan-rescan, multi-centre and multi-device database for building deep neural networks from both high-end and low-cost ultrasound images.

The group:

The successful candidate will join the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Lab (www.bcn-aim.org), which is an integral part of the University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science. It is a young and dynamic research lab, highly active in international projects, and composed of >25 enthusiastic academics, researchers, students and research managers, with expertise in data science, machine/deep learning, biomedical informatics, trustworthy AI, and health-related applications. The research group has an established track record in coordination and participation in European and international projects (> 10 million Euros over the last 5 years) in biomedical data science and medical AI (e.g. EuCanImage, euCanSHare, EarlyCause, LongITools, HealthyCloud, RadioVal, DataTools4Heart, Youth-GEMs, HappyMums, AIMIX, AI4HF).

The institution:

The University of Barcelona (UB), founded in 1450, is one of the oldest universities in Spain. It comprises a student body of 84,370 and 4,548 research staff members. With 73 undergraduate programs, 273 graduate programs and 48 doctorate programs, UB is the largest university in Barcelona and Catalonia. The UB is ranked the first Spanish university according to several rankings (QS World University Rankings 2022, Shanghai Ranking 2022). It is particularly interested in fostering international relations and, for many years, has managed an average of 150 European projects per year. The University of Barcelona is part of the prestigious League of European Universities Research (LERU).

Gross salary per year: 25.000 €