Dr David Jess

Astrophysicists have long been accustomed to dealing with faint signals that are often embedded within the noise level of their observations.

Dr Jess has long contributed to novel techniques designed to reliably isolate and quantify these challenging sources, resulting in numerous publications in high-impact international journals (Jess et al.   2009,  Science, 323, 1582 Jess et al. 2016, Nature Physics, 12, 179).

 In the biomedical field, chemiluminescent signals to   support   the diagnosis of potentially ill patients hinge upon   sensitive   measurements that uphold precise photometric   accuracy, and   hence can benefit from the proven techniques   built and     refined  for   astrophysical purposes.

 Dr Jess was awarded industrially linked research funding from   Randox Laboratories Ltd in 2017, allowing him to set up a   Centre   of Excellence for Biomedical Science within Queen’s   University   Belfast’s School of Mathematics and Physics. The   funding also   allowed the hiring of a full-time post-doctoral   research fellow, in   addition to two PhD students, in order to   develop, scientifically   benchmark, and refine cutting-edge   statistical techniques for use   in  modern, high-precision   analysers being deployed worldwide by   Randox.

 The close working relationship between academia and   industry   has already broken considerable ground in the field     of interdisciplinary research through his merging of   astrophysical   image processing, mathematical understanding,   and biomedical engineering. This ongoing interdisciplinary   research has cemented a working relationship that will continue   to grow in strength over the coming years, and it is anticipated that the novel techniques developed within the Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Science will be harnessed by Randox’s global patient care team from 2020 and beyond.

Key personnel: Dr David Jess, Dr Samuel Grant, Mr Chris Dillon, Miss Caitlin Gilchrist-Millar, Dr Lisa McFetridge, Prof Mihalis Mathioudakis