Edward Barker Email & Phone Number

EDUCATION & SPECIALISATION:- As a PhD student at the University of Bristol, specializing in applied data science and machine learning in healthcare, I'm set to complete my thesis by June 2024- My background includes a masters in Digital Health. This knowledge, and collaborative work with stakeholders in the NHS, gives me a more holistic understanding of the NHS' operational challenges, especially technology adoption. RESEARCH:- A notable project early in my PhD was the development of a clinical decision support tool predicting COVID-19 severity from blood biomarkers.My PhD focuses on the use of causal inference to predict the individualised treatment effects of antibiotics on ICU patients with an infection, taking into account their clinical history, biomarkers, vital signs, comorbidities and patient characteristics. Currently sepsis can deteriorate in a matter of hours, whilst testing for the infectious agent; and therefore the correct antibiotic; can take a day or more. This new approach can happen in real time. This is a form of precision antimicrobial prescribing, and has the dual aim of both prescribing antibiotics less likely to cause harm, and implicitly prescribing antibiotics with a more narrow spectrum, leading to decreased stay in the ICU, decreased mortality, and greater antimicrobial stewardship. This has cost-saving implications for the NHS; increased regulatory compliance, public health impact and most importantly saves lives!CAREER ASPIRATIONS & INDUSTRY GOALS:- I am going to continue my work in applying data science and machine learning to healthcare problems. - My experience working with clinicians has given me an insight into how things are on the "front line" and this has informed how, what and why I create in terms of models. - My knowledge of how the NHS works in terms of funding, such as the devolution of responsibility for Clinical Commisioning Groups and General Practices. Setting up a "Data and Donuts" group for doctors and data scientists, to help encourage digital health champions in and out of the NHS.- I would love to work in industry, with an eye to solving problems where the application is in 10 months and not 10 years. - I would like to continue to disseminate complex problems to stakeholders with data visualisations and effective communication- Finally, I'm looking to expand my view of what problems to solve within healthcare, thinking about problems such as patient bed flow, curating good quality datasets, ensuring a balance of patient privacy/innovation, and population-level public health questions.