Kayla O'Sullivan-Steben

Kayla O'Sullivan-Steben
Contact Information
Email address: 
kayla.osullivan-steben [at] mail.mcgill.ca
Degree(s): 

BSc, Physics, McGill University (2019)

MSc, Medical Physics, McGill University (2021)

PhD, Medical Physics, McGill University (in progress)

Graduate supervision: 

Principal supervisor: Dr. John Kildea

Current research: 

PhD Project: A newly emerging topic in precision medicine is the “digital twin”, a virtual representation of a person created by averaging the characteristics of past patients who are most similar to them. A digital twin would make it possible to not only estimate a person’s projected health, but also infer unknown characteristics based on data from similar patients. Using machine learning techniques, this project will develop digital twin technology for radiotherapy treatments to treat cancer patients in the virtual world and predict their treatment outcomes before treating them in the real world.

Recent research - MSc Project: The goal of this project was to empower patients and facilitate data collection for research by giving patients access to their radiation oncology data and control over who they share them with for research. In practice, this entailed creating three new interfaces in the Opal patient portal: (i) an imaging section where patients can view their medical scans, (ii) a radiotherapy section that presents a customized explanation and 3D rendering of a patient’s treatment plan, and (iii) a research menu where patients can participate in and share data to ongoing research studies.

Areas of interest: 

Machine learning & AI, treatment outcomes prediction, radiation oncology informatics, patient data sharing, learning healthcare system, Opal patient portal

Awards, honours, and fellowships: 

NSERC CGS-D Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (2021-2024)

People’s Choice Award at the AAPM Big Data Workshop (2021)

FRQNT Bourse de maîtrise en recherche (2020-2021)

MSSS Bourse en physique médicale (2019-2021)

McGill Graduate Excellence Fellowship (2019)

Jacqueline Johnson Desoer Science Undergraduate Research Award (2018)

McGill J.W. McConnel Entrance Scholarship (2016)

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