Data Study Group

4 September 2023

Introduction

Stage 1: Precursor Stage (part-time, online)

The precursor stage will last one week in the run up to the ‘event stage’ (Monday 4 – Friday 8 September 2023).
The maximum time commitment is 2.5 hours a day.
This includes online workshops, presentations and team building which will prepare participants for the ‘event stage’.

Stage 2: Event Stage (full-time, in person)

The ‘event stage’ will run at the University of Exeter’s Streatham Campus over one week (Monday 11 – Friday 15 September 2023).
Group work begins and continues throughout.

Challenges

Defence Data Research Centre (DDRC) in collaboration with Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)

Toxin diagnosis by cellular morphology

Diagnosing toxin exposure is not a trivial task, unlike viruses and bacteria that both contain DNA and can be cultured both of which can be used to identify their presence after exposure, toxins do not exhibit either of these properties.

The Data Study Group will focus on a proof of concept challenge, utilising data from a published manuscript. We would like to see if it is possible to utilise the morphology of the cell to identify if it has been exposed to toxin. Cell exposure data collected by imaging flow cytometry over a 48 hour time course can be used in this challenge, with ground truth populations available for both toxin exposed vs unexposed cells. This data is an excellent resource for a proof of concept tool to diagnose toxin exposure. Participants will be split into two groups: one focusing on the analysis of images and one focusing on characteristics that can be extracted from the dataset. Participants in both groups can utilise any methodology they see fit to complete this task.