Shan Raza

Title

Associate Professor

Contact Details

Room: CS3.05
Department of Computer Science
University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL
Tel: +44 24 7657 3801
Email: shan.raza@warwick.ac.uk

About

I am an Associate Professor in Computer Science at the University of Warwick, affiliated with the Biomedical Data Analytics (BDA) research area and the Tissue Image Analytics (TIA) Centre. I lead the VISION Lab (Visual Intelligence for Scalable Imaging and Open‑source iNnovation), which focuses on AI‑driven analysis of histology, multiplex imaging, and multimodal biomedical data.

Before joining Warwick, I held a postdoctoral research position at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, where I worked on the TRACERx project, funded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK). My work there contributed to computational approaches for analysing tumour heterogeneity and spatial pathology in large cancer cohorts. Prior to this, I was a Research Fellow in the Department of Computer Science at Warwick on a BBSRC‑funded project investigating the origin of new beta cells during pregnancy, combining microscopy image analysis with biological discovery.

I received a BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Taxila (2008), and an MS in Systems Engineering from the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Islamabad (2010). I completed my PhD in Computer Science at the University of Warwick in 2014, where my research focused on biomedical anomaly detection using multimodal imaging. During my PhD and postdoctoral training, I also gained hands‑on experience in wet‑lab workflows for tissue preparation and multiplex imaging, which informs my interdisciplinary research approach.

My current research centres on computational pathology and spatial and multiplex microscopy image analysis, with a particular emphasis on quantitative characterisation of the tumour microenvironment, including spatial cellular organisation and tumour–immune interactions. I have a strong interest in open and interoperable digital pathology. I previously led the Next‑Generation File Format (NGFF) workstream as part of an Innovate UK initiative on interoperability in healthcare. I am the lead developer of TIAToolbox, an open‑source library supporting end‑to‑end AI workflows in computational pathology, and I work closely with the MONAI Pathology Working Group to support reproducible and community‑driven AI research.

Research Focus

My research interests include the following areas:

Computational Pathology
AI‑driven analysis of whole‑slide histology to support quantitative tissue phenotyping, digital diagnostics, and translational cancer research.
Spatial and Multiplex Tissue Imaging
Analysis of multiplex and immunofluorescence imaging data to study tissue heterogeneity, spatial cellular organisation, and the structure of the tumour microenvironment.
Tumour Microenvironment and Spatial Tissue Analytics
Quantitative modelling of tumour-immune interactions and cell-cell spatial relationships across cancer types.
Computer Vision and Image Analysis Across Domains
Development and application of image analysis and visual intelligence methods, with primary focus on pathology and extensions to other imaging domains.
Multimodal Data Integration
Integrating imaging data with clinical, molecular, and contextual information to enable holistic understanding of disease.
Open‑Source and Reproducible AI for Healthcare
Development of transparent, reusable, and community‑driven tools for computational pathology, including open‑source software and interoperable data standards.

VISION Lab

I lead the VISION Lab (Visual Intelligence for Scalable Imaging and Open‑source iNnovation) at the University of Warwick, which focuses on computational pathology, spatial and multiplex tissue imaging, and open‑source AI for medical imaging.

→ Full details are available on the VISION Lab webpage.

Research Leadership and Funding

My research has been supported by major UK and international funding bodies including UKRI, Cancer Research UK, NIHR, Innovate UK, ERC, and the British Council. I currently serve as Principal Investigator and Co‑Investigator on multiple national and international projects spanning computational pathology, spatial tissue imaging, and open‑source AI for healthcare.

→ Further details of ongoing and past projects are available on the VISION Lab webpage.

Teaching

CS324: Computer Graphics

CS424/CS904 Computational Biology

Publications

Please click here for a full list of publications.

Useful links

Homepage

VISION Lab

ORCIDLink opens in a new window

Google ScholarLink opens in a new window

Tissue Image Analytics Centre

CS324: Computer Graphics

CS424/CS904: Computational Biology