Pushing the boundaries of research to enable clinical innovation
Dr Parijat Patel’s successful doctorate is transforming early diabetes detection.
On the 26th of March 2025, I reached a defining milestone in my academic journey—successfully defending my DPhil thesis at the University of Oxford. The culmination of years of dedication, rigorous research, and collaboration, this moment was not just the validation of my work but a celebration of the countless efforts that had shaped it.
This work was made possible through an industrial DPhil, undertaken in collaboration with Caristo Diagnostics Ltd. and the University of Oxford. As a recipient of the prestigious Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Industrial Fellowship I had the privilege of contributing to research with direct translational impact—developing AI-driven solutions that could enhance patient outcomes in real-world clinical settings. I am deeply grateful to the University of Oxford, Caristo Diagnostics Ltd., and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 for enabling this research and believing in its potential.
I started my DPhil in Medical Science in October 2021, motivated by the challenge in early detection of patients at risk of diabetes from routine CT scans using AI and deep learning methods. My research, titled Integrating Multi-Dimensional Data for the Development of Artificial Intelligence Tools to Phenotype Human Adiposity from Computed Tomography, aimed to explore different fat depots to improve the characterisation of human adiposity, a crucial factor in cardio-metabolic health through CT image processing.
Throughout my DPhil, I delved into the complexities of medical imaging data, exploring advanced machine learning techniques to extract meaningful phenotypic patterns from computed tomography scans. The interdisciplinary nature of my work necessitated collaboration with radiologists, data scientists, and clinicians, enriching my understanding of both the technical and medical landscapes. The challenges were many—navigating vast datasets, refining AI models, and ensuring clinical relevance—but each obstacle was an opportunity to refine my approach and strengthen my research. The project used data from the ORFAN cohort, a research initiative applying AI to predict cardiovascular disease risk from a sample of 250,000 patients across the UK and internationally. I was the first student in our group to work with this large dataset, which involved 100,000 patients’ data.
Successfully defending my thesis marked the beginning of new opportunities. As I look ahead, I am eager to translate my research into tangible innovations, whether through continued academic exploration, industry applications, or entrepreneurial ventures. The journey has been shaped by incredible supervisors (Prof. Charalambos Antoniades, University of Oxford and Co-founder Caristo Diagnostics, and Dr. Pete Tomlins, Head of Innovation, Caristo Diagnostics), support of the team at JR hospital and continuous support and motivation from the team at Caristo.
This milestone is a testament to perseverance, curiosity, and the power of collaboration. As I step forward, I remain committed to pushing the boundaries of AI in medical science, striving to make meaningful contributions that enhance patient care and drive forward the future of precision medicine.
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