LIVERPOOL JOHN MOORES UNIVERSITY

Partner Information

  • Partner Full Name: LIVERPOOL JOHN MOORES UNIVERSITY
  • Partner Short Name: LJMU
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Website: www.ljmu.ac.uk

Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) is a distinctive institution, rooted in the Liverpool City Region but with a global presence. Founded as a small mechanics institution (Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts) in 1823, it has evolved into a modern, dynamic university with a strong commitment to academic excellence and student success. LJMU offers a diverse range of undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs across various disciplines, and it is renowned for its innovative teaching methods, cutting-edge research initiatives, and close ties with industry partners, providing students with valuable real-world experience and opportunities for professional development. The LJMU team synergises staff members from three research centres within LJMU: the Data Science Research Centre (DSRC), the Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences (LCCS), and the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences (RISES). It brings expertise in the development of novel artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins technology, pathophysiology, cardiovascular care and patient involvement, clinical biochemistry, musculoskeletal modelling and the biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system. 

The DSRC conducts diverse research to advance data science, developing novel algorithms and enhancing existing ones to improve performance, scalability, and interpretability. The DSRC has an established tradition of conducting interdisciplinary and collaborative research with experts from other disciplines. RISES world-leading research in Sport and Exercise Sciences is ranked 2nd in the UK for research quality power. RISES is the home of broad-based, multidisciplinary, fundamental and applied research, including investigating the cardiovascular health of athletes, stem cell biology in ageing and muscle wasting, among others. The LCCS brings together world-leading researchers and clinical specialists from a range of cardiovascular disciplines. It involves the University of Liverpool (UoL), LJMU, and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital Trust; who joined their forces to tackle cardiovascular health in the Liverpool City Region and beyond.  

In TARGET, LJMU leads the project (Ortega-Martorell/PI and Olier/methodological leader) in close collaboration with LU (Ohlsson/Coordinator) and UoL (Lip/clinical leader), and is supported by a Project Administrator (Wilson). LJMU also leads WP5 (Olier) for Pillar I – ‘Risk Prediction’, focusing on patients at risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) and AF-related stroke; and contributes to WP4 with the development of data-driven twins. Together with UoL (Lane), it co-leads WP2 (Lotto) and brings the expertise of the Living Lab (Smith, Jones). Overarching expertise in pathophysiology (Dawson, Thijssen), biomarkers (McDowell) and neuromusculoskeletal modelling (Baltzopoulos, Maganaris) will also be provided by LJMU. The AI modelling activities in WPs 4 and 5 will be supported by 2 postdocs (Mistry and another pending appointment) with the contribution of a third postdoc (Bellfield) and a PhD student (Aikodon).

Key persons

Prof. Sandra Ortega-Martorell

Prof. Ortega-Martorell is a Professor of Data Science and is the leader of TARGET, bringing her expertise in the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to healthcare. She leads the LJMU’s Machine Learning Research Group, part of the DSRC, and is also a senior member of the LCCS. With a growing emphasis on healthcare translation, she has secured over £15 million in external research funding. She focuses on AI/ML translation to healthcare to help accelerate the development of personalised computational models, assist clinical decision-making and help deliver optimised patient management strategies.

Prof. Ivan Olier

Prof. Olier is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science with several years of expertise in AI, specialising in large-scale, highly heterogeneous, and time-varying data modelling, and the development of explainable AI. He is the Head of LJMU's Data Science Research Centre, and a core member of the Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, he actively contributes to national and international grant applications. In the past 5 years, Dr Olier has secured over £15 million in external funding and led the GALP Oil Company's Datathon-winning team. He also serves as an international advisor for the Danish Data Science Academy. His experience and leadership in AI/ML development will enhance the knowledge and understanding of causal links and complex disease onset and progression by recourse to causal, counterfactual AI/ML.

Dr Robyn Lotto

Robyn is a Reader/Associate Professor at LJMU. She has worked in healthcare for over thirty years; in a clinical capacity, as a nurse, specialising in cardiothoracic nursing, and subsequently in the research setting. As part of her research, she has examined the variations in clinical practice within the Primary Care setting using quantitative studies. Her PhD was funded by the SAPPHIRE (Social Science Applied to Healthcare Improvement Research) and TIMMS (The Infant Mortality and Morbidity Studies) research groups from the University of Leicester to explore the reasons for the observed variations in neonatal and infant mortality between socioeconomic groups. She was awarded a Florence Nightingale Fellowship in 2016/2017 to support her work on risk perception in congenital cardiac surgery.

Dr Ellen A Dawson

Ellen is a Reader/Associate Professor in cardiovascular physiology at Liverpool John Moores University and is a member of the Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science. Her current research is focused on vascular function in health and disease. This includes responses to acute exercise, adaptation to acute injury, and improved vascular function with exercise training and other lifestyle interventions. The research aims to understand the mechanisms underlying vascular function (both dysfunction and improved function) and its associated links with cardiovascular disease and health.

Prof Ian Jones

Ian is a senior cardiac nurse and academic with over 30 years of clinical experience. He is a former President of the British Association for Nursing in Cardiovascular Care, Council member of the British Cardiovascular Society and Nurse Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology. Ian has published widely in the field and completed a PhD focussing on the clinical outcomes of cardiac patients. He has successfully managed a large number of funded research projects that have focussed on the needs of cardiac patients and their carers, the end-of-life needs of heart failure patients and the users’ views of cardiac nurses.

Prof Costis Maganaris

Professor Costis Maganaris is a Professor of Musculoskeletal Biomechanics and is the lead of the Biomechanics Research Group. Costis has pioneered experimental techniques and protocols based on ultrasound scanning that are currently being used all over the world for the study of the mechanical properties of human muscles, tendons and joints in vivo. He studies how the musculoskeletal system adapts to exercise, disuse, ageing and disease and the way the body behaves in challenging daily activities, such as stair negotiation, to identify and prevent falls and accidents which are prevalent in older age.

Dr Garry McDowell

Dr McDowell is Head of Subject for Biomedical Sciences, with specialist interest in Clinical Biochemistry. He has clinical expertise in clinical biochemistry, in particular endocrinology, and is an internationally recognised expert in biomarker research in acute cardiology and heart failure. Dr McDowell's research interest is focused on the translational aspects of the development and clinical validation of biomarkers for diagnostic and/or prognostic testing in cardiology.

Ryan Bellfield

Ryan is a Research Associate based in the Data Science Research Center. During his PhD, he developed machine learning models with applications in cardiovascular research. Some examples include the understanding of the optimal ECG data format for machine learning analysis; a new methodology for identifying clinically relevant phenotypes of atrial fibrillation in the general population and in critical care; and a new methodology for identifying clinically relevant subgroups within a population of healthy athletes. Before this, Ryan completed his Undergraduate degree in Mathematics and a Master's degree in Data Science, both at LJMU.

Dharmesh Mistry

Dharmesh Mistry is a Post Doctoral Researcher for the EU TARGET project. Dharmesh has a PhD in Astrophysics that focused on the development of a Machine Learning pipeline capable of automatically detecting/classifying rare types of astrophysical objects called cataclysmic variables from wide field sky survey data. Subsequently, he has built significant experience in the use of Machine Learning techniques and working with large databases demonstrated in two peer-reviewed publications. Prior to this, Dharmesh acquired a Distance Learning undergraduate degree in Physics and Master's degree in Astrophysics.

Nosa Aikodon

Nosa Aikodon is an experienced software engineer and PhD student funded under the EU Target Project, specializing in the development of cutting-edge AI models tailored to address the complex challenges of atrial fibrillation and stroke. With a focus on personalized digital twin-based solutions and risk prediction, Nosa's research aims to revolutionize the landscape of healthcare by harnessing the power of AI to provide tailored, effective treatments for patients. He holds a master's degree in data science and a bachelor's degree in software engineering, bringing a wealth of expertise to his innovative research pursuits.

Amanda Wilson

Amanda Wilson is the Project Administrator for TARGET with a strong background in managing EU-funded projects at LJMU. With over 14 years of experience coordinating and administering projects in various fields, including Entrepreneurship, Industry 4.0, Smart Technologies for the Green Sustainable Travel Corridors, and Leadership training programs. Amanda's expertise lies in her ability to manage project finances, ensure compliance with project regulations, and oversee the day-to-day operations of projects to ensure successful outcomes.

George Margereson

George Margereson is a Research Associate in Artificial Intelligence within the TARGET EU Project at Liverpool John Moores University. His role in TARGET is to develop predictive models for stroke and atrial fibrillation using patient health records, ECGs, and imaging data as part of Work Package 5. George is completing a PhD in applied machine learning for cardiovascular problems, following a Master’s in Data Science and a Bachelor’s in Applied Mathematics. His research has focused on applying AI to generate meaningful impact beyond the field, with the TARGET project providing opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and the translation of predictive models into real-world clinical settings.