Leadership
John Shepherd, PhD
Principal Investigator
I am a Researcher/Professor at the UH Cancer Center, a Fulbright Scholar and an expert in mining biomarkers from medical imaging using advanced machine learning techniques; PI of the NIH-funded Shape Up! Studies on how 3D optical body shape relates to human health in children and adults; Director of the Hawaii Pacific Island Mammography Registry, the Body Composition Exercise Physiology and Energy Metabolism CORE lab, and the Shepherd Research Lab; 2017 President of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry; ISCD’s John Bilezikian Global Leadership and Oscar Gluck Humanitarian Awards for his IAEA contributions. I have chaired 10 international workshops on quantitative imaging and have over 200 peer-reviewed publications that have been referenced over 10,000 times.
Gwen Jacobs, PhD
Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Jacobs is currently the Director of Cyberinfrastructure for the University of Hawai‘i System where she leads efforts to support data intensive research with advanced cyberinfrastructure for the University of Hawaiʻi research community. She directs the State of Hawai‘i EPSCoR Program and serves as Principle Investigator of the NSF EPSCoR Track 1:‘Ike Wai project (a $20M award). Her research accomplishments and interests span computational neuroscience, informatics, software tools for data management analysis and visualization, campus cyberinfrastructure and regional and national networking initiatives. She currently chairs the Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure at the National Science Foundation.
Peter Sadowski, PhD
Co-Director, Machine Learning
My background is in machine learning, computational science, and data analysis. During my PhD and Postdoc, I became an expert in deep learning, and I have applied it to problems in bioinformatics, chemoinformatics, and high-energy physics, where I was the first to use deep learning for particle collider experiments. I am an Assistant Professor in the UH Computer Science department with a lab specializing in robust machine learning techniques for scientific data analysis, in which we use deep learning to model high-dimensional data such as graphs, images, and videos. I have a particular interest in applying these techniques to medical imaging and health informatics.
Lynne Wilkens, PhD
Co-Director, Medical Data Curation
Dr. Wilkens has a DrPH from the University of North Carolina in Biostatistics and has worked in health research for over 30 years including over 25 years in cancer research. Much of this effort has focused on prevention in the domains of epidemiology and intervention research. A primary focus for Dr. Wilkens at UHCC has been in the quantification of cancer incidence and mortality rates for the multiethnic populations of Hawaiʻi and the US affiliated Pacific, and studying the underlying causes of differences in cancer risks between ethnic groups. Genetic as well as lifestyle factors, including diet, physical activity, smoking and neighborhood environment, have been considered. Dr. Wilkens has published over 300 publications from these efforts.
Advisory Board
Randall Holcombe, MD
Director, UHCC
As University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center Director, I oversee all research activities and direct operational activities of the center, including allocation of space, appointment of faculty, and management of budgets and finances. I serve as the principal investigator for the P30 Cancer Center Support Grant and lead strategic planning initiatives as they related to the Cancer Center.
Margaretta Colangelo
Managing Partner, Deep Knowledge Ventures
Margaretta Colangelo is Managing Partner at Deep Knowledge Ventures, Managing Partner at Longevity Capital, President of U1 Technologies, and Co-founder of Jthereum, an enterprise blockchain technology company based in Honolulu. She has over 30 years of experience working in the software industry in Silicon Valley. She has a deep and multifaceted understanding of business, science, and technology and is adept at tracking and forecasting innovation in technology. She has published over 60 articles on the topics of AI and precision medicine and has appeared in MIT Technology Review Italia, Forbes, Health Management Journal, Outsourced Pharma, Pharmaceutical Executive, and Healthcare IT News.
Andrew Bogle
Managing Director, Reva Capital
Andrew Bogle is Managing Director at Reva Capital Markets an investment bank with eclectic deal flow including real estate and lower middle market opportunities in many industries. He is very well connected with the startup ecosystem in New York and is very involved connecting entrepreneurs with investors, advisors and potential clients. He serves on the alumni board of the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, on the alumni board of Connecticut College, on the Board of Trustees of Kent School, on the Board of Directors of the GO Project, and on the advisory board of Jthereum, an enterprise Blockchain technology company based in Honolulu.
Members & Students
Thomas Wolfgruber
Postdoc, Shepherd Research Lab
I am a post-doctoral researcher primarily studying mammography for risk detection using machine learning. As a data scientist and software engineer I support the general scientific and technological goals of the group. My experience ranges from co-authoring scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals to more day-to-day tasks like server administration.
Xun Zhu
Postdoc, Shepherd Research Lab
I’m a post-doctoral researcher currently focusing on designing Deep Learning solutions to biomedical imaging problems. My background is mathematics (B.S. and M.S.) and bioinformatics (Ph.D.). It is my passion to apply the quantitative skills I learned to improve technologies related to everybody’s life.
Lambert Leong
PhD Student, Shepherd Research Lab
I am a PhD student in the Molecular Bioscience and Bio-Engineering (MBBE) department at the University of Hawaii. I received my Masters in computer science where I focused on high performance computing and simulation. My Bachelors degree is in biology and I have three years of work experience in the bio-tech industry developing an artificial cornea for transplant. My work with the Shepherd Research Lab focuses on breast imagining and the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence for cancer risk analysis and detection. More information about me, my projects and works can be found at lambertleong.com.
Shane Spencer
MS Student, Shepherd Research Lab
I am an Electrical Engineering Systems Masters Student at UH Manoā. My skills include: programming, modeling, and analysis. My interests are embedded electronics, stocks, and skateboarding. Some of my projects include breast tomography and melanoma.
Yannik Glaser
MS Student, UH Manoa ICS
I am a Computer Science Master’s student at the UH ICS department, hoping to also earn my PhD there afterwards. I work at the UH Machine Learning Lab as a research assistant, applying machine learning techniques to various problems from different disciplines. I’m particularly passionate about deep learning algorithms and their application to the natural sciences. My work with the Cancer Center focuses on applying deep learning to medical image analysis.
Michael Omori
MS Student, UH Manoa ICS
I grew up in Seattle, WA in an amazing community of family and friends. I went to Lakeside High School, then did a bachelor’s of science in electrical engineering at the University of Washington and am currently pursuing a master’s degree in computer science in the Aloha state. I have worked as a software engineer and data scientist, most recently at Boeing. I am currently working in the Shepherd Research Lab on measuring body composition using machine learning and deep learning with novel imaging techniques for applications in space.