From big data to functional outcomes: Can we use large data sets to understand changes in swallowing, gait and handwriting functions?
A biomarker is defined as a characteristic that is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biologic processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention. In this talk, I will present my efforts to develop computational biomarkers that can characterize temporal and spatial signatures (i.e., the unique patterns of moment-to-moment changes of physiologic variables under normal or pathologic conditions) and their relationship to other variables. Specifically, I will elaborate my efforts to develop computational biomarkers for detecting swallowing difficulties, gait changes and handwriting changes. These computational biomarkers are obtained by mining large data sets in order to characterize changes in the considered functional outcomes under various conditions.
Biography:
Dr. Ervin Sejdić received B.E.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada in 2002 and 2008, respectively. From 2008 to 2010, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto with a cross-appointment at Bloorview Kids Rehab, Canada’s largest children’s rehabilitation teaching hospital. From 2010 until 2011, he was a research fellow at Harvard Medical School with a cross-appointment at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. From his earliest exposure to research, he has been eager to contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge through carefully executed experiments and ground-breaking published work. This has resulted in co-authoring over 80 publications in the last 5 years. Dr. Sejdić’s passion for discovery and innovation drives his constant endeavors to connect advances in engineering to society’s most challenging problems. Hence, his research interests include biomedical signal processing, vascular aging, gait analysis, swallowing difficulties, advanced information systems in medicine, rehabilitation engineering, assistive technologies and anticipatory medical devices.