VISE Summer Research In Progress (RiP) Series 7.7.22
VISE Summer Seminar to be led by
Nhung Hoang, PhD Candidate, Department of Computer Science
and
Frank Servin, PhD Candidate, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Date: Thursday, July 7, 2022
Time: 11:45 am Room Admittance, noon start
Location: MCN C-2209
Speaker #1: Nhung Hoang, PhD Candidate, Department of Computer Science
RiP #1: Title: Individual variability in heritable gene expression and neuroimaging phenotypes
RIP #1 Description: Recent human neuroimaging studies have revealed strong associations between brain-wide gene expression profiles and several image-derived phenotypes. However, these association studies have been limited thus far by availability of expression and neuroimaging data for large cohorts. My proposed approach to this challenge uses gene expression modeling to impute heritable expression for a large neuroimaging cohort. In this talk, I will show how this approach allows for association studies of heritable expression and neuroimaging phenotypes across hundreds of individuals.
Bio: Nhung Hoang graduated from Swarthmore College in 2019 with a BA in computer science. She is currently pursuing a PhD under the mentorship of Dr. Mika Rubinov at Vanderbilt University’s School of Engineering. Her research interests lie at the intersection of neuroscience, genetics, and data science. Nhung’s current project focuses on the genetic mechanisms underpinning human brain organization.
Speaker #2: Frank Servin, PhD Candidate, Department of Biomedical Engineering
RiP #2: Prediction and Localization of Microwave Ablation to Treat Hepatocellular Carcinoma
RIP #2 Description: Liver cancer is the 4th most common cancer, with over 41,000 new cases and over 30,000 deaths in the United States alone. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the primary liver cancer, and microwave ablation is one of the best treatments for unresectable early-stage HCC, but tumor recurrence is still a problem. My work focuses on forecasting patient-specific microwave ablation margins by adjusting for the effects of liver disease (primarily Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) on liver tissue properties. We are also interested in combining our ablation forecasting with navigational tools that enable surgeons to hit tumor targets accurately.
Bio: Frank Servin received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Arizona in 2020, where he was an NIH-MARC (T34) Scholar researching pulmonary arterial hypertension via cardiopulmonary modeling under Dr. Rebecca Vanderpool. At Vanderbilt, he works with Dr. Miga in the Biomedical Modeling Laboratory to research surgical treatments for early-stage liver cancer, specifically microwave ablation.