Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies', we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies', only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Project researcher: Dr Max Brzezicki, Academic Foundation Programme 

I was involved in the Oxford Quantification in Parkinsonism (OxQUIP) project. My aim was to design a tool that can provide an objective way of diagnosing and monitoring symptoms in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP– a rare movement disorder). We used a comprehensive battery of movement, eye tracking and cognitive tests to measure a whole spectrum of parkinsonian symptoms, for five visits, at three-monthly intervals. 

I focused on a tablet-based battery of objective cognitive tests. I used my analytical thinking and coding skills (Python, matplotlib, seaborne) to study the data and design a computational algorithm that extracted a unique pattern of “how” the tasks were solved. This pattern and its associated computerised “score” led to a rapid increase in diagnostic accuracy and provided granular tracking level for PSP patients (better than currently available CSF studies, MRI morphometry). 

I saw that my analytical model picked up an early signal of the disease that was elusive to conventional scales and questionnaires used in movement disorder clinic. 

During my AFP I co-authored a few chapters on digital phenotyping in Parkinsonism and the effects of Deep Brain Stimulation on eye movements. My findings have been published in MDS (Movement Disorders Society) Journal.

August 2021