معرفی
Dr. Marta Vallejo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the School of Mathematical & Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University. She also serves as Programme Director for the Graduate Apprenticeship in Data Science. Previously, she held a tenure-track Research Fellow position in biomedical signal/image processing and was Head of AI at ClearSky Medical Diagnostics Ltd. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has contributed to EU-funded projects in Spain.
- Education:
- PhD in Computational Intelligence and Predictive Modelling
- MSc in Artificial Intelligence
Her research focuses on machine learning and evolutionary algorithms applied to healthcare, specifically neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, ALS) and cancer. Key projects include developing AI-driven clinical assessments, biomarker detection platforms, and image co-registration systems using deep learning. She leads the ML-Healthcare group and collaborates with ClearSky MD and the Proteus project. Her work emphasizes translating academic research into clinical tools, such as virtual staining techniques and wearable tremor monitoring devices.
In public engagement, she organizes initiatives like Rubbish Robots (recycled materials for robotics) and contributes to events like the UK-RAS Robot Lab Live. She has received awards for research culture and outward-looking collaborations, including the Spirit of Heriot-Watt Awards 2017 and the 2024 Research Culture Recognition Award.
- Grants & Leadership:
- Principal Investigator: Neuro BioMark (EPSRC IAA)
- Co-Investigator: Lung Cancer Registration (Cancer Research UK)
- Successfully secured 96,432 GPU hours via EPSRC for high-performance computing
- Organized EvoStar workshops and led the SPECIES society for evolutionary computation
She hosts educational programs at the Robotic Assisted Living Testbed, introducing students to robots like Pepper and Tiago. Her research also aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in advancing healthcare technologies and promoting STEM education.
