Vesna Vuksanovic

Dr. Vesna Vuksanovic is a Senior Lecturer in Health Data Science at Swansea University's School of Medicine. She also holds an Honorary Senior Lecturer position at the University of Aberdeen. Her academic career spans institutions including the University of Aberdeen and the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, where she was based prior to joining Swansea University in 2021.

Research Interests:

• Multimodal imaging and computational modeling of healthy aging and neurodegeneration
• Brain connectome analysis and morphometric similarity
• Neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia
• Dynamic functional network analysis for dementia classification
• Development of computational models for understanding brain changes in neurodegenerative disorders

Dr. Vuksanovic's research focuses on mapping heterogeneous changes across brain regions in healthy aging and neurodegenerative disorders, and studying disease progression in dementia patients participating in clinical trials. Her work bridges computational neuroscience, clinical neurology, and data science to develop better diagnostic tools and understanding of neurodegenerative processes. She has made significant contributions to understanding the relationship between structural and functional brain networks in conditions like Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia.

Recent Publication Trends:

Her publications from 2014-2024 demonstrate a consistent focus on applying advanced network analysis techniques to neuroimaging data in dementia research. Key areas include genetic factors in Alzheimer's disease, dynamic functional networks for improved diagnosis, and the degeneration patterns of specific brain networks in frontotemporal dementia. Her most recent work (2023-2024) explores the genetic basis of anatomical asymmetry in Alzheimer's disease and uses dynamic functional network analysis to improve classification of dementia subtypes. Her research shows an evolution from fundamental network science approaches to increasingly clinically relevant applications.

Awards and Recognition:

• Co-inventor on three international patents, including 'Network methods for neurodegenerative diseases' (US17/272885)

Research Funding and Supervision:

Dr. Vuksanovic serves as Principal Investigator for multiple research projects including 'Brain Aging Model: Identifying neuroimaging patterns relevant to neurodegeneration' (£67,939, 2023-2024) and 'Brain Flexibility: A possible non-invasive biomarker for dementia' (£111,918, 2020-2024). She is available for postgraduate supervision and has led PhD scholarship projects focused on using brain network modules to improve dementia diagnosis. Her research portfolio demonstrates strong funding success across multiple funding bodies and international collaborations.

Teaching Activities:

Dr. Vuksanovic teaches several modules in health data science including Capstone Project (PM-344), Computational Science and Health Care (PMIM102/PMIM102J), Health Data Modeling (PMIM202/PMIM202J), and Advanced Machine Learning in Health Care (PMIM402J). Her teaching focuses on equipping students with practical computational skills applicable to healthcare data analysis, integrating theoretical foundations with hands-on computational approaches using tools like SPSS and R.