I am a PhD student on the Complexity Science Doctoral Training Program at the University of Warwick. In my PhD project I am working on modelling of magnetic resonance imaging of multiple sclerosis, supervised by Prof Tom Nichols, in collaboration with the Medical Image Analysis Center (MIAC), Basel, Switzerland and Prof Tim Johnson at the University of Michigan, USA.

My main research interests are in spatial point process models as well as machine learning approaches to neuroimaging data. I am currently working on a marked Poisson/Gamma random field model (a variant of a Cox process model) for MS lesions. This work involves a nonparametric, hierarchical point process model based on a mixture of a Gaussian kernel and a latent random field as well as Bayesian modelling & inference, MCMC techniques, and validation on real data.

My work in machine learning is focused on classification and prediction of MS patients; using a combination of geometric and MRI-derived measures about individual lesions. I have also contributed to the documentation and code of a probit regression model based on binary lesion masks which can be found here.

update: As of March 2017 I am a post-doc at DZNE (research centre for neurodegenerative diseases) in Bonn, Germany.

Note: This site will no longer be updated.

Recent Publications

• Taschler B, Bendfeldt K, et al. MRI-based individualized prediction of clinically definite multiple sclerosis. [to be submitted]
• Bendfeldt K, Smieskova R, Koutsouleris N, Klöppel S, Schmidt A, Walter A, Harrisberger F, Wrege J, Simon A, Taschler B, Nichols T, Riecher-Rössler A, Lang UE, Radue EW, Borgwardt S (2015). Classifying individuals at high-risk for psychosis based on functional brain activity during working memory processing. NeuroImage Clinical Vol 9, pp 555-563. (link)

• Taschler B, Ge T, Bendfeldt K, Mueller-Lenke N, Johnson TD, Nichols TE (2014). Spatial Modeling of Multiple Sclerosis for Disease Subtype Prediction. In: Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention – MICCAI 2014, LNCS Vol 8674, pp 797-804. (link)

Recent Conferences and Presentations

• Centre for Complexity Science Retreat, Ironbridge/Coalport (2016)
• Neuroimaging Statistics seminar, University of Warwick (2016)
• ECTRIMS, Barcelona (2015)
  
• Methodology seminar, Medical Image Analysis Center, Basel, Switzerland (2015)
• OHBM, Honolulu (2015) (poster, all posters from our group here)
• Multiple Sclerosis Research seminar, Unversity Hospital Basel, Switzerland (2015)
• Neuroimaging Statistics seminar, University of Warwick (2015)
• MICCAI, Boston (2014) (poster)
• MS BOSTON, joint A/ECTRIMS meeting, Boston (2014) (poster)
• Medical Imaging Summer School, Favignana, Sicily (2014)
• OHBM, Hamburg (2014) (see all posters from our group here)
• Student Conference on Complexity Science, Oxford Brookes (2013) (poster)

Background

• MSc in Complexity Science (part of the Doctoral Training Program) with Distinction. This included the following two 3-month projects:
  • Classification of multiple sclerosis patients from the geometry of white matter lesions. Supervisor: Tom Nichols - see details here
  • Brain-Computer Interfacing: Determination of neural activation patterns during imagined movements. Supervisor: Prof Christopher James, Institute of Digital Healthcare (IDH).
• Dipl. Ing. (MSc) with Distinction in theoretical and computational physics from Graz University of Technology, Austria. Thesis subject: Strongly correlated systems under the influence of an external electrical field - A cluster perturbation approach (read thesis). Supervisor: Prof Enrico Arrigoni.
• Visiting member of the Nuclear Theory Group (ntg) at Inha University in Incheon, South Korea, for one year. Head of research group: Prof Hyun-Chul Kim.
• Undergraduate in physics at Graz University of Technology (TUG). Thesis: De Broglie wave optics. Supervisor: Prof Wolfgang Ernst.

Other Activities

• In conjunction with my role as a Teaching Assistant for first-year physics and maths/phys problems classes I have been awarded the Postgraduate Award (PGA) in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education by the University of Warwick as well as Associate Fellow status of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
• Organised conference: summer meeting of the IOP-NCPG 2015 on Complexity and Sustainability.
• Committe member of the Intitute of Physics Nonlinear and Complex Physics Group (NCPG).
• TA for undergraduate physics modules (incl. classical mechanics, particle physics, electricity & magnetism, introduction to quantum physics); marking of exams.

Office:

E-mail:

b.taschler (at) warwick.ac.uk