Dr Joshua Astley

School of Medicine and Population Health

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Dr Joshua Astley
Dr Joshua Astley
Profile picture of Dr Joshua Astley
j.r.astley@sheffield.ac.uk
Polaris

Full contact details

Dr Joshua Astley
School of Medicine and Population Health
Polaris
18 Claremont Crescent
Sheffield
S10 2TA
Profile

I obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sheffield in 2019 before securing a fully-funded Faculty of Medicine Post Graduate Research Committee Scholarship to complete a PhD within the POLARIS group at the University of Sheffield. I completed my PhD in 2023 and in recognition of my PhD thesis, I received the prestigious Institute of Physics Best PhD Thesis in Medical Physics award. I am currently working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Pulmonary MR Image Computing Science at the University of Sheffield.

Research interests

My research interests focus on lung image analysis methods, primarily in MR imaging, alongside biomarker prediction in patients with lung disease. I have published several peer reviewed research articles and conference abstracts on the use of neural networks in medical imaging applications, such as image segmentation, synthesis and survival analysis, with the aim of improving patient care. I have a keen interest in the scientific method and producing research that is rigorously validated and statistically sound. I am excited by the developing fields of explainable AI, multi-modal fusion models, uncertainty awareness and AI ethics.

Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Journal articles

  • Astley JR, Reilly J, Robinson S, Wild JM, Hatton MQ & Tahir BA (2024) . Radiotherapy and Oncology, 193, 110084-110084.
  • Astley JR, Biancardi AM, Marshall H, Smith LJ, Hughes PJC, Collier GJ, Saunders LC, Norquay G, Tofan M-M, Hatton MQ , Hughes R et al (2023) . Scientific Reports, 13.
  • Astley JR, Biancardi AM, Hughes PJC, Marshall H, Collier GJ, Chan H, Saunders LC, Smith LJ, Brook ML, Thompson R , Rowland‐Jones S et al (2023) . Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
  • Astley JR, Biancardi AM, Marshall H, Hughes PJC, Collier GJ, Smith LJ, Eaden JA, Hughes R, Wild JM & Tahir BA (2023) . Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 57(6), 1878-1890.
  • Astley JR, Biancardi AM, Hughes PJC, Marshall H, Smith LJ, Collier GJ, Eaden JA, Weatherley ND, Hatton MQ, Wild JM & Tahir BA (2022) . Scientific Reports, 12(1).
  • Astley JR, Wild JM & Tahir BA (2022) . British Journal of Radiology, 95(1132).
  • Astley JR, Biancardi AM, Marshall H, Hughes PJC, Collier GJ, Hatton MQ, Wild JM & Tahir BA () . Medical Physics.

Conference proceedings

  • Astley J, Biancardi A, Hughes P, Smith L, Marshall H, Eaden J, Bray J, Weatherley N, Collier G, Wild J & Tahir B (2020) . Thoracic Image Analysis, Vol. 12502 (pp 24-35). Lima, Peru, 8 October 2020 - 8 October 2020.

All publications

Journal articles

  • Smith LJ, Marshall H, Jakymelen D, Biancardi A, Collier GJ, Chan H-F, Hughes PJC, Brook ML, Astley JR, Munro R , Rajaram S et al (2025) . Thorax.
  • Astley JR, Reilly J, Robinson S, Wild JM, Hatton MQ & Tahir BA (2024) . Radiotherapy and Oncology, 193, 110084-110084.
  • Astley JR, Biancardi AM, Marshall H, Smith LJ, Hughes PJC, Collier GJ, Saunders LC, Norquay G, Tofan M-M, Hatton MQ , Hughes R et al (2023) . Scientific Reports, 13.
  • Astley JR, Biancardi AM, Hughes PJC, Marshall H, Collier GJ, Chan H, Saunders LC, Smith LJ, Brook ML, Thompson R , Rowland‐Jones S et al (2023) . Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
  • Astley JR, Biancardi AM, Marshall H, Hughes PJC, Collier GJ, Smith LJ, Eaden JA, Hughes R, Wild JM & Tahir BA (2023) . Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 57(6), 1878-1890.
  • Astley JR, Biancardi AM, Hughes PJC, Marshall H, Smith LJ, Collier GJ, Eaden JA, Weatherley ND, Hatton MQ, Wild JM & Tahir BA (2022) . Scientific Reports, 12(1).
  • Astley JR, Wild JM & Tahir BA (2022) . British Journal of Radiology, 95(1132).
  • Astley JR, Biancardi AM, Marshall H, Hughes PJC, Collier GJ, Hatton MQ, Wild JM & Tahir BA () . Medical Physics.

Conference proceedings

  • Marshall H, Smith LJ, Biancardi A, Collier GJ, Chan HF, Capener D, Bray J, Jakymelen D, Saunders L, Astley J , Tahir BA et al (2023) . ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet’ – Imaging across COPD, nodules and lung cancer screening (pp A215-A215)
  • Smith LJ, Marshall H, Biancardi A, Collier GJ, Chan HF, Capener D, Bray J, Jakymelen D, Saunders L, Astley J , Tahir BA et al (2023) . ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet’ – Imaging across COPD, nodules and lung cancer screening (pp A214-A214)
  • Smith L, Marshall H, Biancardi A, Collier G, Chan H-F, Capener D, Bray J, Jakymelen D, Saunders L, Astley J , Tahir B et al (2023) . Respiratory function technologists/scientists (pp PA4500-PA4500)
  • Marshall H, Smith L, Biancardi A, Collier G, Chan H-F, Capener D, Bray J, Jakymelen D, Saunders L, Astley J , Tahir B et al (2023) . Clinical respiratory physiology, exercise and functional imaging (pp OA4954-OA4954)
  • Biancardi A, Marshall H, Smith L, Collier G, Chan H-F, Hughes P, Brook M, Astley J, Munro R, Rajaram S , Swift A et al (2023) . Clinical respiratory physiology, exercise and functional imaging (pp PA2260-PA2260)
  • Smith L, Marshall H, Biancardi A, Collier G, Chan H-F, Capener D, Bray J, Jakymelen D, Saunders L, Astley J , Tahir B et al (2023) . Respiratory function technologists/scientists (pp OA757-OA757)
  • Marshall H, Smith L, Biancardi A, Collier G, Chan H-F, Hughes P, Astley J, Munro R, Rajaram S, Capener D , Bray J et al (2021) . Imaging (pp PA1872-PA1872)
  • Astley J, Biancardi A, Hughes P, Smith L, Marshall H, Eaden J, Bray J, Weatherley N, Collier G, Wild J & Tahir B (2020) . Thoracic Image Analysis, Vol. 12502 (pp 24-35). Lima, Peru, 8 October 2020 - 8 October 2020.
  • Astley J, Marshall H, Smith L, Biancardi A, Hughes R, Tahir B & Wild J () . ISMRM Annual Meeting, 10 May 2025 - 15 May 2025.
  • Clark W, Astley J, Biancardi A, Saunders L, Hughes P, Wild J & Tahir B () . ISMRM Annual Meeting, 10 May 2025 - 15 May 2025.
  • Tahir B, Hughes P, Atkinson J, Jadav I, Astley J, Robinson S, Biancardi A, Marshall H, Hart K, Swinscoe J , Ireland R et al () . ISMRM Annual Meeting, 7 May 2022 - 12 May 2022.
  • Chan H-F, Baldwin T, Barker H, Stewart N, Eaden J, Hughes P, Weatherley N, Astley J, Tahir B, Johnson K , Karwoski R et al () . ISMRM Annual Meeting, 7 May 2022 - 12 May 2022.
  • Marshall H, Smith L, Biancardi A, Collier G, Chan H-F, Hughes P, Brook M, Astley J, Munro R, Rajaram S , Swift A et al () . ISMRM Annual Meeting, 7 May 2022 - 12 May 2022.
  • Astley J, Biancardi A, Marshall H, Tofan M-M, Smith L, Hughes P, Collier G, Hatton M, Blé F-X, Hughes R , Wild J et al () . ISMRM Annual Meeting, 7 May 2022 - 12 May 2022.
  • Astley J, Biancardi A, Marshall H, Hughes P, Collier G, Smith L, Eaden J, Blé F-X, Hughes R, Wild J & Tahir B () . ISMRM Annual Meeting, 7 May 2022 - 12 May 2022.
Current projects
  • Longitudinal prediction of lung biomarkers via a diverse range of clinical, demographic and imaging data derived from a large cohort of patients with asthma and/or COPD acquired as part of a sub-study of the NOVELTY study
  • A CNN-based end-to-end approach for image-based biomarker prediction from 129Xe-MRI and 1H-MRI with the aim of improving functional lung clinical workflows.
  • Use of explainable AI techniques, such as grad-CAM and SHAP, to provide improved trust in algorithms amongst clinicians and patients.
  • Investigating the use of fusion models for multi-modal prediction and survival analysis in lung cancer radiotherapy.