Professor Vladimir Brusic
Li Dak Sum Chair Professor in Computer Science
Professor Vladimir Brusic, Li Dak Sum Chair Professor in Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, is also a pioneer of immuno-informatics and has more than 30 years of interdisciplinary research experience in Computer Science and bioinformatics.
He has been working in more than six countries, at the Walter and Eliza Hall Medical Institute, the University of Queensland and Griffith University in Australia; the Institute for Infocomm Research in Singapore, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School in the United States. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at Boston University in the United States.
We are going to share with you the academic development and working experience of this research giant.
Q: Can you briefly introduce your learning experience? Why did you choose to study Computer Science?
Professor Brusic:
In fact, I didn't start with Computer Science. I graduated from the University of Belgrade in Serbia with a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. Then I continued to study for my master's degree in Biomedical Engineering in the same university in my home country. My interdisciplinary research started from it, the combination of mechanical engineering and medical studies like human prosthetic limbs.
After receiving MSc degree, I moved to Australia where I studied Computer Science. I received my second bachelor’s degree, in Computer Science, from La Trobe University and the Master of Applied Science degree in Information Technology from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. I was studying and working at the same time. My PhD project was about the study of the immune system using computers. I received my doctoral degree at La Trobe University in 2001. Before I completed my PhD studies, I published a total of 27 academic papers.
For a long time, my study and research field has been interdisciplinary, but it has always been carried out around medicine. Many people in my family are doctors and teachers. My daughter is also a medical doctor. Working in medicine is like something engraved in our genes, passed down from generation to generation with the blood.
Q: Would you like to share some of your work experience with us? What achievements have been made during this period?
Professor Brusic:
My working experience originated from working as a research assistant in the university in Serbia and doing some fundamental research. This wasis my first job. After I moved to Australia, I joined the Walter and Eliza Hall Medical Research Institute. It is Australia’s oldest medical research institute. I worked as a programmer with the most outstanding immunologists in Australia. I had been working there for nearly ten years. My work there, using machine learning to support the study of the human immune system, was pioneering at that time. I was also widely recognised by the scholars in the world.
After I received a PhD in Australia, I moved to Singapore. Although I just graduated, because of my previous work experience, I soon got an offer from the Institute for Infocomm Research, Singapore and became the Head of the Department there. Meanwhile, I also worked at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University as an Associate Professor.
Later, I moved to the United States and worked at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston and Harvard Medical School. I spent eight years working at the Harvard Medical School. I also worked at Boston University as Professor of Computer Science, since 2008. Until now, I am also an Adjunct Professor at Boston University.
Q: What’s your research focus now? Can you talk about your research field in the UNNC?
Professor Brusic:
As I have said, you may know very well that my research is interdisciplinary, combining mechanical engineering, biology, medicine, computer science and other fields. I am happy to join the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Here, I can get my engineering knowledge back in action, and produce some real devices. At present, I mainly worked in two areas: the heart health monitoring system and I am developing new types of blood testing.
Q: Could you please tell us more about these two parts?
Professor Brusic:
I believe everybody has had a blood test before. For example, if you had a cold, your body employs own white blood cells to fight bacteria, viruses or other foreign substances. This increases your white blood count.
Therefore, the number of different cells can tell us the condition of different organs in the body. But traditionally, there are so many kinds of cells in our blood that when they are mixed together, it is difficult for us to read this information. Therefore, under the traditional technology, if you want to test for 20 diseases, you have to do 20 blood tests. Our research is to use one blood test to complete the screening of these 20 diseases.
One of my research is to use data science and machine learning technology to classify and analyse the cell types from single-cell transcriptomics experiments. In this way, by labelling different cells in a drop of blood, we can clearly know the different gene expressions of different types of cells and draw a cell-gene matrix. Our recently published paper is about using artificial neural networks to classify single cell types during leukemialeukaemia therapy.
Here, another research project I did with both doctoral students and undergraduates is the development of a home heart health monitoring system. A medical health monitor costs tens of thousands yuan and needs to be operated by professionals. Our current research is to use the smart bracelets, chest straps, and mobile devices. These sensors and devices are integrated into a wearable health monitoring system with high data security and real-time monitoring. The cost of the system is low, similar to the cost of a smart watch, and it is more affordable to families in China.
Q: What do you think of the development trends of interdisciplinary research?
Professor Brusic:
I think this is the only way for the development of real-life applications. If you want to translate research results into practical products, the interdisciplinary approach is essential. First of all, we need to have basic science knowledge, and then we need to study applied science and understand to what fields this knowledge can be applied to. Then, we need engineers to specifically develop it into a product and enable the production on a large scale. Smart health monitoring systems can benefit every user and bring them a better life. This is the result of multidisciplinary cooperation.
Q: What courses do you teach in Computer Science? Do you think it's important for students?
Professor Brusic:
I teach Professional Ethics in Computing for Year 4 students, which is important for the future scientists and engineers we train. Ethics is an important emerging field because technology is developing rapidly. It can be said that the emergence of relevant knowledge and potential applications is faster than the speed in which people learn how to use them properly. For example, for the Internet of Things, information communication technologies and the Internet enable us to connect with each other, transfer knowledge and information very fast. It also gets all the sensors connected and online in real-time so that we can see how our heart works. But at the same time, it will also produce potential problems. For example, security. If our data is not secure, there will be a lot of cybercrime internet crime. We teach our students codes of professional conduct. My teaching philosophy is to ensure that students know how to apply in practice the knowledge they learn in the classroom, and apply it to produce high-quality solutions, products, and software. The product assessment is not only technical, but it must be safe, efficient and applicable to real-life situations.
Q: What do you think of UNNC's research environment?
Professor Brusic:
University of Nottingham Ningbo China is making the transition from a primarily teaching university into a research-intensive university. I think what we are doing with students is an example of how this goal will be achieved.
Our students start doing practical projects in the second year of undergraduate study. They have group projects called Software Engineering projects. In the final year, they can do a final year research project. The Faculty also has a lot of research internships. Our students are very interested in working on projects either as summer internships or the work during the semester. Our students are very apt into deploying theoretical knowledge to engineering practice. Our undergraduate programs prepare students well to enter the research arena. Our University has many PhD scholarships available for exceptional students, especially those who have demonstrated their research potential during undergraduate studies. There is also an Innovation Centreer at UNNC. Students who demonstrate high-levelthe ability can get space and support to develop their ideas into a product.
So, the University is set well to nurture and promote innovation. It is an excellent place for students who like to take the challenges and move technology development forward. The University has everything needed to help students grow fast and guide them to success. UNNC is a great place for research and innovation.