Every month we introduce a member of the Leibniz AI Lab. This month, Johanna Schrader tells us what she finds most exciting about her project. Johanna is a PhD student in the Cochlear Implants Project associated with the Future Lab and joined in January 2022.
- Who are you and what project are you currently working on?
My name is Johanna Schrader, I started my PhD at L3S in January this year. Currently, I am working on a project to predict the outcome of cochlear implant (CI) surgeries. CIs are implantable devices for patients suffering from hearing loss. We are incorporating domain knowledge in a machine learning model to predict the patients hearing ability after the CI implantation and to infer meaningful links between multiple sources of data, such as genomic information and clinical data.
The project is associated to the Leibniz AI Lab in collaboration with the Hannover Medical School (MHH).
- What do you find most exciting/ interesting about your work?
Since the CI outcome prediction is an interdisciplinary project, I am working closely with experts from very different backgrounds, like medicine and human genetics. This allows me to expand my personal knowledge beyond my background as a computer scientist. At the same time, my work here can have a direct and tangible impact on the quality of people’s lives.
- What made you decide to study for a PhD?
In my previous work as a research assistant I found AI in the biomedical domain to be a fascinating field in an challenging environment with people who are inspiring and highly motivated. I want to have a positive impact on the world and peoples lives, and I figured that scientific research is the best way for me to achieve this.
- What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I like being active, lifting weights is my favorite sport and I like to go for walks to chat with my friends.
- What’s your favorite place in Hannover?
The area around the Maschsee and Maschteich, because it is a great place for a walk and during summer there are nice events like the Maschseefest