You are giving a free talk soon in a pub in Dundalk about your research, tell us more.
I’m one of the presenters at Pint of Science, which is where speakers give a short talk about their work in the pub. I’ll be speaking about blockchain, and how it can be used in healthcare. I’m doing my PhD in this area at the Regulated Software Research Centre in Dundalk Institute of Technology.
What’s blockchain?
It’s basically a platform that logs all the activity on that platform in a ledger. This provides a detailed and secure account of all that activity. People often confuse it with bitcoin, but they are not the same. Bitcoin is a currency that runs on blockchain.
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What does blockchain have to do with healthcare?
Healthcare relies increasingly on data, and AI is coming in more and more, whether it’s in clinical trials or developing a new drug or analysing patient results.
Blockchain can offer more transparency, accountability and security. This is important because medical data can be very sensitive, and we have seen what can happen in data breaches in healthcare systems.
What’s your PhD about?
The healthcare data space is highly regulated, which is as it should be. I am using blockchain to build a framework for AI medical device software to comply with regulation. This will enhance security and accountability. My supervisors are Prof Fergal McCaffery, Dr Abhishek Kaushik and Dr Róisín Loughran.
How did you get into this area of research?
Growing up in New Delhi, I found that maths and science made the most sense to me as subjects. So I studied computer science in India, and I found I loved coding. I did my master’s and I worked in industry for several years, but I found that in industry I was just dealing with whatever question was in front of me.
I wanted to do a deeper study of something, to really see it through. Then during the Covid-19 pandemic my mum did a PhD, and she inspired me to go and do a PhD as well.
What did your mum study?
She did her doctorate in Hindi poetry, so completely different to me. She loves languages, but both my brother and I didn’t go that route, we went into technology.
Why did you want to sign up as a speaker in Pint of Science?
I volunteered at the Pint of Science festival last year, and I loved hearing how the speakers made their research accessible for the audience. Research is often supported by taxpayers, including mine, as it is funded through Research Ireland.
So it’s important to talk to people about what we are doing, to give back. Also, I spend most of my time talking about the project with my supervisors and lab colleagues, it will be interesting to hear what people outside the lab want to know about it.
Best of luck with it. When you are not researching or speaking to people in pubs about your research, what do you like to do?
I love reading fiction, my iPad is full of books. I also love to travel. Ireland is very beautiful, and I am enjoying exploring it. I even love the Irish weather, which is something a lot of people I meet here think is a little strange!
Pint of Science is running 50 free events from May 19th to 21st across Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, Limerick, Maynooth, Mullingar and Sligo. For more details see pintofscience.ie
