Anna Linton Farrar Foundation Fellow

Anna Linton received a Farrar Foundation Fellowship to work Alzheimer's Research UK Drug Discovery Institute, University College London as part of an undergraduate placement. Here, working with the biology team, Anna explored potential drug targets for Alzheimer’s Disease. Anna graduated from the University of Bristol with a 2:1 in Neuroscience (MSci). Following graduation, Anna worked on the NHS Whole System Integrated Care Dashboards Project, a collection of digital tools for patient health and social care summaries. During this time Anna developed an appreciation of a much more holistic approach to patient care and the use and potential uses of information as patients navigate the healthcare system.

Being inspired to explore this further, in 2019 Anna joined the first cohort of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Medical Diagnosis and Care at the University of Leeds. This is an integrated PhD and MSc programme focusing on applying AI techniques to cancer diagnosis and care. Through this PhD programme Anna will develop skills in AI and programming methods, health informatics and health research. Alongside this, Anna has also been been able to embrace many opportunities within the Centre for Doctoral Training including making presentations to visitors and engaging in outreach events such as panel discussions on AI, transparency and equity.

Now in the second year of the programme Anna has started the PhD. The research for the PhD explores patient self-evaluations following diagnosis and treatment. This will use AI techniques to analyse patient data which should provide insight into the quality of life, survival and predictors of their long-term health outcomes