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School leadership

Professor Sebastien Ourselin FREng FMedSci, Head of School

Professor Sebastien Ourselin FREng, is Head of the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s College London. He is also Director of the Wellcome/EPSRC Centre for Medical Engineering and Deputy Director of the London Medical Imaging and Artificial Intelligence Centre for Value Based Healthcare.

He has over 20 years of experience within academia and research organisations across three countries. Alongside Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, he is leading the establishment of a MedTech Hub, located at St Thomas’ campus. The vision for the Hub is to create a unique ecosystem, enabling academia, industry and the NHS to work in synergy and develop health technologies (including medical devices), workforce and operational improvements that will be of global significance.

He has significant experience in translating and commercialising healthcare technology and is a co-founding member of two academic spin-out companies.

 

Professor Stephen Archibald, Head of Research Dept of Imaging Chemistry & Biology

Professor Archibald established his academic career in radiopharmaceutical chemistry and drug development at the University of Hull and Hull York Medical School. He led on the development of infrastructure for preclinical and clinical nuclear medicine, and embedded innovative translational capabilities. He has over 25 years of research experience in medical imaging and nuclear medicine. He has identified unmet challenges in radiopharmaceutical development, production and clinical application, and addressed them through technology designed for clinical need in a format for rapid adoption.

 

Professor Vicky Goh, Head of Research Dept of Cancer Imaging

Professor Vicky Goh obtained her medical degree from the University of Cambridge, and trained in General Medicine and Radiology in London, completing a Fellowship in Cross-sectional Imaging at Toronto, Canada. She joined Kings College London in 2011 as Chair of Clinical Cancer Imaging. She has served as Head of Department, Cancer Imaging within the School since 2017. She is past president of the European Society of Oncologic Imaging and currently chairs the Academic Committee at the Royal College of Radiologists and the Workforce Group of the NIHR Imaging Group.

 

Professor Amedeo Chiribiri, Head of Research Dept of Cardiovascular Imaging

Professor Amedeo Chiribiri is Head of the Department of Cardiovascular Imaging. Professor Chiribiri received his degree in Medicine from the University of Turin (Italy) with an experimental thesis on the role of coronary endothelium in the modulation of myocardial contractility in 2001. He completed his training in Cardiology in 2006 and received his PhD in Experimental Medicine and Human Physiology in 2011. After an experience as research fellow in human cardiovascular physiology the University of Turin, during his training in cardiology he has developed an interest in non-invasive cardiovascular imaging, in particular echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. His research is mainly focused on the non-invasive and high-resolution quantification of myocardial perfusion and assessment of coronary pathophysiology.

 

Dr Shaihan Malik, Head of Research Dept of Imaging, Physics & Engineering

Dr Shaihan Malik's research focuses on the physics of MRI, particularly in imaging using ultrahigh field (7T) MRI systems. He completed his PhD in fast MR imaging in 2008, moving to King’s in 2012. He is currently technical lead for the 7T London Collaborative Ultrahigh field System (LoCUS) and leads a program of research aiming to push this powerful technology into new clinical and biomedical applications including young children and infants. His more technical research interests include rapid imaging, RF pulse design, safety, and quantitative MRI (including imaging of tissue electrical properties); he is also engaged with developing lower cost / more accessible solutions for the future of medical imaging.

 

Dr Emma Robinson, Head of Research Dept of Biomedical Computing

Dr Robinson's research focuses on the development of computational methods for brain imaging and neuroscience, spanning classical as well as AI methods. Most notably, her software for cortical surface registration (Multimodal Surface Matching, MSM) was central to the development of  the Human Connectome Project’s  (HCP)“Multi-modal parcellation of the Human Cortex “ (Glasser et al, Nature 2016), and has featured as a central tenet in the HCP’s paradigm for neuroimage analysis.  Her current research interests are focused on the development of geometric deep learning tools for modelling functions on the cortical and cardiac surfaces, optimising image processing pipelines  open data collections such as the HCP, developing HCP and UK Biobank, and building learning-based models of neurological processes (neurological Digital Twins). 

 

Dr Tom Arichi, Head of Research Dept of Early Life Imaging

Professor Arichi is an MRC Senior Clinical Fellow and Head of the Research Department of Early Life Imaging, King’s College London. He received his PhD from Imperial College London in 2012, following the award of a Chain-Florey Fellowship from the MRC Clinical Sciences Centre. The work of his thesis focused on the optimisation of functional MRI techniques for studying activity in the newborn brain. He was appointed as an MRC Clinician Scientist in March 2017. Prof. Arichi also holds an honorary position as a Consultant in Paediatric Neurodisability at the Evelina London Children's Hospital. His clinical work is focused on the early identification and resulting management of the disabilities associated with perinatal brain injury.

 

Dr Adelaide De Vecchi, Head of Research Dept of Digital Twins for Healthcare

Dr De Vecchi is Head of the Research Department of Digital Twins for Healthcare at King’s College London, focusing on the development of Digital Twins for precision medicine by combining imaging, machine learning and modelling. Her vision is not only to enhance technological synergies, but also to constructively engage all stake-holders – from engineers, to clinicians, to policy makers, to patients – to enable the full potential of the Digital Twin paradigm and its deployment. Her specific research interests span blood coagulation modelling in thrombus formation, remodeling prediction in pediatric congenital heart diseases and aortic coarctation, modelling of cardiac valves implantation and machine learning based assessment of pulmonary hypertension.

 

Professor Alexander Hammers, Head of the PET Centre

Alexander Hammers, a Neurologist with a particular interest in epilepsy, is Professor (Honorary Consultant) of Imaging and Neuroscience and Head of the King’s College London & Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre at St Thomas’ Hospital. Other roles include Deputy Director of the Centre for Medical Engineering. He obtained an MD from the RWTH Aachen, Germany, in MR imaging of the hippocampus and a PhD from the University of London in PET investigations in focal epilepsy.

 

Professor Kawal Rhode, Academic Lead for Education

Professor Rhode is Head of Education for the School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences. He oversees the School's delivery of taught programmes, including the BEng/MEng Biomedical Engineering, MSc/MRes Healthcare Technologies and the iBSc Imaging Sciences.

Professor Rhode obtained his bachelor’s degree in Basic Medical Sciences and Radiological Sciences at Guy's & St. Thomas' Hospitals Medical School in 1992. From 1998 to 2001, he studied for a doctorate in the Department of Surgery, University College London, investigating quantitative blood flow analysis using X-ray angiography. From 2001 to 2007, Professor Rhode was employed at the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences as a post-doctoral researcher working in the field of image-guided interventions, particularly catheter-based electrophysiology procedures. During this time, he developed novel methods for the registration of cardiac MRI data to X-ray fluoroscopy data for guiding minimally-invasive catheter-based procedures in the hybrid XMR environment. He also worked in close collaboration with industry to extend these techniques to provide image-guided solutions for standard catheter laboratories.

 

Professor Christos Bergeles, Academic Lead for Research, Director CDT Surgical & Interventional Engineering

Prof Christos Bergeles received his Ph.D. degree in Robotics from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2011. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts, and the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, Imperial College, United Kingdom. As a Professor at King’s College London, he directs the “Robotics and Vision in Medicine Lab” whose mission is to develop micro-surgical robots that deliver regenerative therapies deep inside the human body.  His team and he are very active in public engagement and patient involvement activities, with examples including New Scientist Live (2019, 2023, 10,000+ participants), and Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition (2023, 10,000+ participants). He is an IEEE Senior Member.

 

Professor Prashant Jha, Academic Lead for Impact

Professor Prashant Jha is Head of Affordable Medical Technologies at the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences.

 

Dr Andrew Melbourne, Academic Lead for Development, Diversity & Inclusion (DDI)

Andrew Melbourne is a Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Technologies. His team are implementing imaging studies and computational modelling for supporting novel fetal interventions; for measuring how the placenta is working in the womb; and for helping understand the links between early preterm birth and subsequent outcome. With funding from the Wellcome Trust, MRC and NIH, Dr Melbourne is working closely with clinicians and scientists in cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional collaborations to improve our understanding of how the placenta works and how to measure placenta function in conditions such as fetal growth restriction and in twin pregnancies where foetuses share a placenta. He is also programme director of the IET accredited MSc in Healthcare Technologies based at St Thomas's Hospital.

 

Professor Alistair Young, Director CDT Smart Imaging

Professor Young has developed methods for understanding heart function using MRI, atlas-based characterisation of heart disease in large populations, and evaluation of heart stiffness and contractility from non-invasive medical imaging exams. He is a founding member and past Board of Trustees member of the Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, past Chair of the Flow and Motion Study Group of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, and serves on the editorial boards of several journals including Medical Image Analysis, Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, and GigaScience. He is Principal Investigator for the Cardiac Atlas Project, a world-wide consortium for the re-use of imaging data.

 

Professor Pablo Lamata, Director CDT Digital Twins for Healthcare

 Prof. Lamata has developed his academic career at King’s, Oxford, Madrid and Zaragoza, supported most of the time with personal awards and fellowships. He has worked at Siemens, been an advisor for successful spin-outs such as Ultromics, and lived an entrepreneurial adventure called Congenita. He is the Director of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Twins for Healthcare (DT4Health CDT) and group leader of the Cardiac Modelling and Imaging Biomarkers (CMIB) group. The group develops technologies to build the vision of the digital twin in cardiovascular medicine, where cardiologists will use their computer-enhanced ability to reason with clinical data and provide a preventive and personalised healthcare.

 

Dr Denise Barton, Head of School Operations

Dr Denise Barton joined the university in May 2018. Prior to this, she worked as the Institute Manager for The Institute for Healthcare Engineering at University College London. The School Manager is responsible for working in partnership with the Head of School to provide strategic and operational leadership within the School to deliver the ambitious research, education and clinical services. This includes responsibility for all School professional services, overseeing the School’s finances, as well as a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Denise ensures that the academic endeavour is supported by excellent professional services support and is a member of the Faculty Operations Executive through which she works closely with the Faculty Operating Officer and the other School Managers across the Faculty.

 

Dr Sharon Giles, Director of Clinical & Research Imaging Operations

Dr Sharon Giles comes from a radiography background, with extensive experience in MR imaging and MR-guided interventions. She now provides senior clinical and operational leadership for the PET Centre and the MR Clinical Research Facility. She ensures that clinical services are operated in line with Trust expectations, and are developed to align with the overall School and University vision. She provides support for the Clinical Academics and has responsibility, with key stakeholders, for the development and implementation of service provision and imaging research programmes.