PhD Studentship in Advanced AI for Perioperative Risk Stratification (AI-PREP) Full-time

PhD Studentship in Advanced AI for Perioperative Risk Stratification (AI-PREP)

Applications are invited for a fully funded PhD studentship at University College London (UCL) to develop next-generation artificial intelligence tools for perioperative risk prediction and shared decision-making. This interdisciplinary PhD sits at the interface of clinical medicine, machine learning, medical imaging, and large language models (LLMs), and will be jointly supervised by:

• Dr John Whittle – Associate Professor of Perioperative Medicine, UCL
• Dr Evangelos Mazomenos – Associate Professor of Medical Robotics & AI, UCL

The student will be embedded within the UCL Hawkes Institute and the UCL Centre for Perioperative Medicine, working in close collaboration with University College London Hospitals.

About the Role

Project Overview Major surgery carries substantial risk. Current preoperative assessment tools are often static, resource-intensive, and variably accessible. This PhD will develop and validate a multimodal AI framework that integrates:

• Preoperative CT imaging
• Physiological and cardiopulmonary metrics
• Structured electronic health record data

The goal is to build a multimodal predictive pipelines based on letese generation deep learning methodologies, capable of dynamic perioperative risk stratification.

A central innovation is the integration of Large Language Models to translate complex model outputs into:

• Clinician-facing interpretability summaries
• Patient-facing explanations to support shared decision-making

The resulting tool will form the foundation for future prospective NHS implementation studies.

What We Offer

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We particularly welcome applications from candidates from underrepresented backgrounds in AI and biomedical engineering. Flexible working patterns can be discussed.

How to Apply Applicants should submit:

• CV
• Cover letter outlining research interests and relevant experience
• Academic transcripts
• Contact details for two referees

Informal enquiries are encouraged and may be directed to: Dr John Whittle – j.whittle@ucl.ac.uk