Constantine Aaron Cois
5214 Friendship Ave. Apt. #3, Pittsburgh, PA, 15224
cacois@gmail.com
(412) 915-0077

Webpage: http://viaserver.vialab.org/aaron

CAREER GOALS

To pursue research and development with a focus on clinical applications, utilizing my knowledge of machine learning, bioengineering, and software development. To work with researchers and clinicians to bring cutting edge technology into the clinical world, to directly improve patient care and treatment.

EDUCATION

Sept. 2007 Candidate for Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering, Signals and Imaging Concentration
University of Pittsburgh

  • Advisor: George D. Stetten, M.D., Ph.D.
  • Expected Dissertation Defense: October 2007
  • Thesis Committee: George D. Stetten, M.D., Ph.D. (Advisor, Bioengineering), Michael Sacks, Ph.D. (Bioengineering), C. C. Li, Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering / Computer Science), J. Robert Boston, Ph.D. (Bioengineering), Mei Chen, Ph.D. (Intel Research)

2006-2007 Bioengineering Cadiovascular Trainig Program (competitive fellowship)
University of Pittsburgh

  • Designed coupled Left Ventricle - Systemic Arterial System cardiovascular model
  • Implemented a graphical cardiovascular simulator based on above model in Matlab
  • Researched the effects of independently altering cardiac parameters
  • Advisor: Sanjeev Shroff, Ph.D.

Aug. 2006 Master of Science in Computer Science
University of Pittsburgh

  • Focused on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
  • Defended thesis entitled "Shells and Spheres: A Novel Framework for Variable-Scale Statistical Image Analysis"
  • Thesis Committee: George D. Stetten, M.D. (Advisor, Bioengineering), Ph.D., Milos Hauskrecht, Ph.D. (Advisor, Computer Science), C. C. Li (Electrical Engineering / Computer Science)

April 2003 Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
University of Pittsburgh

April 2003 Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh

EXPERIENCE

University of Pittsburgh Bioengineering Department

2003-Present Graduate Student Researcher

  • Focused Research on medical image analysis software and medical device design
  • Wrote M.S. thesis entitled "Shells and Spheres: A Novel Framework for Variable-Scale Statistical Image Analysis"
  • Participated in research collaborations with UPMC, Intel Research Pittsburgh, and Children's Hospital, Boston
  • Served as a developer for the National Library of Medicine Insight Toolkit (ITK)
  • Helped develop the Sonic Flashlight, a device for guiding interventional procedures using ultrasound


2006 Clinical Imaging Intern

  • Served as an intern in both Nuclear Cardiology and Echocardiography labs at UPMC Presbyterian
  • Worked with clinicians and technicians to develop a deeper understanding of the assets and shortcomings of imaging technology in a clinical setting
  • Shadowed clinicians to learn about patient care, cardiovascular pathologies and diagnosis via imaging, and practical clinical imaging protocols

1999-2003 Undergraduate Research Assistant

  • Developed algorithms and software developer for in-house image analysis research projects
  • Served as a developer for the National Library of Medicine Insight Toolkit (ITK)
  • Developed algorithms and metrics for medial correspondence calculation

1999-2003 Senior Design Project

  • Worked with Dr. James Luketich, UPMC Chief of Thoracic Surgery
  • Analyzed shortcomings of current minimally invasive liver retractors and proposed solutions to major failures in current devices
  • Designed new liver retractor design to take advantage of proposed improvements

Carnegie Melon Robotics Institute
2002-Present Visiting Scholar

  • Performed my research jointly at CMU Robotics institute, taking advantage of its academic and research opportunities and faculty.

Other
2004 Summer School on Medical Image Computing 2004

  • Attended week long course at Imperial College, London, organized by Dr. Daniel Rueckert, Department of Computing
  • Organizer: Dr. Daniel Rueckert, Department of Computing, Imperial College, London
  • Topics included image acquisition, registration, segmentation, shape modeling, and more
  • Details, including a list of topics and speakers, can be found at http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~dr/miua/summerschool.html

SELECTED COURSEWORK

  • Machine Learning
  • Molecular and Cell Biology and Biophysics 1 & 2
  • Biochemistry for Engineers
  • Design & Analysis of Algorithms
  • Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
  • Foundations of Artificial Intelligence
  • Artificial Intelligence Application Development
  • Numerical Methods
  • Pattern Recognition
  • Cardiovascular System Dynamics & Modeling
  • Introduction to Natural Language Processing
  • Advanced Natural Language Processing
  • Introduction to Computer Graphics
  • Programming Languages
  • Methods in Image Analysis
  • Methods of Medical Image Analysis (Teaching Assistant)

TECHNICAL SKILLS

  • Programming Languages: C/C++, Java, Perl, Python, Prolog, SQL, HTML, XHTML, Matlab
  • Toolkits: ITK, VTK, FLTK, OpenGL, SDL
  • Software packages and operating systems: MS Visual Studio 5,6,.NET,2005, CMake, ITK-SNAP, MS Office, SPSS, Oracle 8, ODBC/JDBC, SolidWorks, Emacs, gcc, MS Windows, MS DOS, Unix, Linux.
  • Experienced in application development for: Win32, OSX, Linux/Unix

HONORS / AWARDS

  • Bioengineering Cardiovascular Training Program Fellowship, NIH-T32-HL76124
  • Elected to Bioengineering Graduate Student Council, Research and Education Committee, 2005
  • CMU VASC Seminar Retreat Graduate Student Poster Session First Runner-Up, August 2003
  • Univ. of Pittsburgh Bioengineering Dept. Signals and Imaging Concentration Outstanding Senior 2003
  • Dean's List during tenure at University of Pittsburgh
  • Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society Member
  • Fesseden Honors in Engineering Program Member
  • University of Pittsburgh Honors Scholar
  • First Bioengineering / Computer Science Dual Major

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

C. A. Cois, K. Rockot, J. Galeotti, R. Tamburo, D. Gottlieb, Jr. J. E. Mayer, A. Powell, M. Sacks, and G. Stetten, "Automated segmentation of the right heart using an optimized shells and spheres algorithm," in Proceedings of the Fourth IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI 2007), 2007 (in press).


R. J. Tamburo, G. J. Siegle, G. D. Stetten, C. A. Cois, K. J. Rockot, J. M. Galeotti, C. F. Reynolds III, and H. J. Aizenstein, "Localizing amygdala structure differences in late-life depression," in Proceedings of the Fourth IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI 2007), 2007 (in press).


C. Cois, "Shells and Spheres: A Novel Framework for Variable-Scale Statistical Image Analysis," Master's Thesis, Department of Computer Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, August 2006.


C.A. Cois, K. Rockot, J. Galeotti, R. Tamburo, G. Stetten, "Shells and Spheres: A Framework for Variable Scale Statistical Image Analysis", CMU Robotics Tech Report #CMU-RI-TR-04-19, April, 19, 2006.


D. Shelton, G. Stetten, S. Aylward, L. Ibanez, A. Cois, C. Stuart, "Teaching Medical Image Analysis with the Insight Toolkit," Medical Image Analysis, 2005, 9(6):605-11.


G. Stetten, A. Cois, W. Chang, D. Shelton, R. Tamburo, J. Castellucci, O. von Ramm, "C-mode Virtual Image Display for a Matrix Array Ultrasound Sonic Flashlight", (1 of 12 papers from MICCAI, invited to be in a special issue), Academic Radiology, vol. 12, no. 5, pp 535-543, May 2005.


R. Tamburo, A. Cois, D. Shelton, G. Stetten, "Novel method to automatically identify medial node correspondences between two images," SPIE Medical Imaging, vol. 5367, pp. 1225-1235, San Diego, Feb 2004.


G. Stetten, A. Cois, W. Chang, D. Shelton, R. Tamburo, J. Castellucci, O. von Ramm, "C-mode Virtual Image Display for a Matrix Array Ultrasound Sonic Flashlight," Medical Image Computing and Computer-Assisted Intervention - MICCAI 2003. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 2879, pp. 336-343.


G. Stetten, D. Shelton, W. Chang, R. Tamburo, V. Chib, A. Cois, R. Hollis, A. Rizzi, L. Lobes, D. Schwartzman, "Progress Towards a Clinically Useful Sonic Flashlight", Biomedical Imaging Research Opportunities Workshop, Washington, D.C., Jan. 31 2003. Published in Academic Radiology, Po-topic IV-16, vol. 10, no. 8, pp. 959, August 2003.


R. Tamburo, A. Cois, D. Shelton, G. Stetten, "Medial Node Correspondences for Automatic Non-Rigid Registration," Second International Workshop on Biomedical Image Registration, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2003, Philadelphia, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 2717, pp. 337-348.

ABSTRACTS

R. Tamburo, G. Siegle, G. Stetten, C. A. Cois, C. Reynolds III, H. Aizenstein. Amygdala Shape Morphometry in Late-Life Depression. Celebrating Research on Aging: Building Collaborations for the Future, University of Pittsburgh, October 17, 2006.

R. Tamburo, G. Siegle, G. Stetten, C. A. Cois, C. Reynolds III, H. Aizenstein. Amygdala Shape Morphometry in Late-Life Depression. Science2006, University of Pittsburgh, October 5-6, 2006.

G. Stetten, D. Shelton, W. Chang, R. Tamburo, V. Chib, C. A Cois, R. Hollis, A. Rizzi, L Lobes, and D Schwartzman. Progress Towards a Clinically Useful Sonic Flashlight, 2003.

INVITED ORAL PRESENTATIONS

C. A. Cois. Shells and Spheres: A Novel Framework for Image Analysis. Bioengineering Graduate Student Summer Seminar Series, University of Pittsburgh, July 2006.

Meeting of the NLM Insight Toolkit Consortium, G. Stetten, D. Shelton, A. Cois, R. Tamburo, W. Chang, "Summary
of New Projects with the ITK Toolkit," Washington D.C., October 8, 2002.


National Library of Medicine Insight Software Consortium, Core Developers Meeting, "Java Standards Emulation
(JSE); a new internal GUI for C++," G. Stetten, V. Pitiyanuvath, R. Tamburo, A. Cois; National Library of
Medicine, Washington D.C., June 22, 2000.


National Library of Medicine Insight Software Consortium, Core Developers Meeting, "Medial Morphogenisis of
Shapes using Medial Node Models," G. Stetten, W. Portnoy, A. Cois, R. Tamburo; National Library of
Medicine, Washington D.C., June 22, 2000.

INVITED POSTER PRESENTATIONS

C. A. Cois, K. Rockot, J. Galeotti, R. Tamburo, D. Gottlieb, Jr. J. E. Mayer, A. Powell, M. Sacks, and G. Stetten, "Automated segmentation of the right heart using an optimized shells and spheres algorithm," in Proceedings of the Fourth IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI 2007), 2007 (in press).

R. J. Tamburo, G. J. Siegle, G. D. Stetten, C. A. Cois, K. J. Rockot, J. M. Galeotti, C. F. Reynolds III, and H. J. Aizenstein, "Localizing amygdala structure differences in late-life depression," in Proceedings of the Fourth IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI 2007), 2007 (in press).

C. A. Cois. "Shells and Spheres: A Novel Image Analysis Framework for Automated Segmentation". Bioengineering Graduate Student Poster Session, University of Pittsburgh, 2007.

C. A. Cois. "The 3D Ultrasond C-mode Sonic Flashlight". Bioengineering Graduate Student Poster Session, University of Pittsburgh, 2006.

C. A. Cois. "The 3D Ultrasond C-mode Sonic Flashlight". CMU VASC Retreat, Flintstone, Maryland, August 4-6, 2003.

TEACHING

  • Teaching assistant for a joint Univ. of Pittsburgh / CMU RI course entitled "Methods in Image Analysis" (U. Pitt. BioE 2630 / CMU 16-725) in Spring 2003 and 2004
    • Professor George Stetten
  • Instructor/lecturer for "Methods in Image Analysis" (U. Pitt. BioE 2630 / CMU 16-725) in Spring 2003, 2004, and 2005
    • Gave a total of nine 80-minute lectures

PROFESSIONAL INVOLVEMENT

  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Student Member
  • Reviewer for the 10th International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI), 2007

REFERENCES

George. D. Stetten, M.D., Ph.D.

Affiliation: Thesis advisor, lab director
Business Address:

749 Benedum Hall
University of Pittsburgh
3700 O'Hara Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Phone: (412) 624-7762
Email: george@stetten.com

Webpage: www.stetten.com

 

Harvey S. Borovetz, Ph.D.

Affiliation: Chair of the University of Pittsburgh Bioengineering Department
Business Address:

749 Benedum Hall
University of Pittsburgh
3700 O'Hara Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Phone: (412) 624-4725
Email: borovetzhs@msx.upmc.edu

Webpage: http://www.engr.pitt.edu/bioengineering/main/people/faculty/borovetz_harvey.html

 

Sanjeev G. Shroff, Ph.D.

Affiliation: Professor, Fellowship Director
Business Address:

746 Benedum Hall
University of Pittsburgh
3700 O'Hara Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Phone: (412) 624-2095
Email: sshroff@pitt.edu

Webpage: http://www.engr.pitt.edu/bioengineering/main/people/faculty/shroff_sanjeev.html

 

Marc A. Simon, M.D., M.S.

Affiliation: Clinical Collaborator, Assistant Professor of Medicine
Business Address:

Cardiovascular Institute, Heart Failure/Transplant Section
University of Pittsburgh
Scaife Hall S-554, 200 Lothrop St
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Phone: (412) 647-7168
Fax: (412) 647-0595
Email: simonma@upmc.edu
Webpage: http://findadoc.upmc.com/PhysicianBioQuery.aspx?ID=25005388&A=

 

Milos Hauskrecht, Ph.D.

Affiliation: M.S. Thesis co-advisor, Professor
Business Address:

Department of Computer Science
5329 Sennott Square
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Phone: (412) 624-8845
Email: milos@cs.pitt.edu
Webpage: http://www.cs.pitt.edu/~milos/