Barry Drake

Barry Drake serves as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), where he is also affiliated with the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology and the Data Science Institute. Additionally, he holds the position of Co-Chief Scientist at the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre and participates in government advisory committees. His career bridges academic research and industry application, with significant experience in translating research into practical technology solutions for business and government sectors.

Drake earned his PhD in Computer Science from UNSW Australia (1998-2003) and a BSc with First Class Honors in Computer Science from UTS (1991-1996). His educational background is complemented by a Certificate of Proficiency for Radio Fitter/Mechanic Electronic Systems from the Royal Australian Navy.

His research focuses on algorithms and software for practical smart systems, with particular expertise in applications of AI and machine learning, probabilistic inferencing and knowledge compilation, learning probabilistic models, and fast-efficient near-neighbor searching in ultra-high dimensional spaces. His work demonstrates a clear trajectory toward health informatics applications, especially in health systems and delivery of health services, where he has made significant contributions through projects like the Lumos statewide linkage programme.

The analysis of his publication record reveals a consistent pattern of research bridging theoretical computer science with practical healthcare applications. His recent work shows increasing focus on health data integration, patient journey modeling, and privacy-preserving synthetic data generation for healthcare applications, while maintaining his foundational expertise in probabilistic models and efficient search algorithms.

• Inventor on 20 filed patents
• ORCID identifier: 0000-0003-0572-9936

Drake actively supervises Masters and PhD students according to his profile, and his funded research portfolio includes multiple grants from the Digital Health CRC and NSW Health. His industry experience, particularly his 13 years at Canon Information Systems Research Australia where he served as Senior Principal Engineer and lead researcher for machine learning, informs his approach to technology research methods from a commercial perspective. His current projects focus on the impact of integrated care in New South Wales, synthetic data generation, and patient journey modeling.

As Co-Chief Scientist at the Digital Health CRC, Drake contributes to a major national initiative focused on digital health innovation. His work with the Lumos programme has created Australia's first statewide linked data asset across primary care and other health settings, providing unique insights about cross-setting healthcare utilization. This initiative represents a significant contribution to health data infrastructure in Australia.