Thomas Kane

Email: thomas.kane.ucl@gmail.com
Website: https://thomasmichaelkane.github.io/me/
GitHub: https://github.com/thomasmichaelkane
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9809-2454

Software Developer with a background of eight years of experience working in Science. I am adept in programming Python and Rust applications in scientific contexts, and I also have recent experience in full-stack development with Django and React. I have thrived in interdisciplinary teams, bridging the gap between research and software engineering. I am passionate about developing high-quality, scalable software solutions that advance scientific discovery, improve healthcare outcomes, or have a positive societal impact.

Technical Skills

• Languages => Python, Rust, JavaScript, Matlab
• Frameworks/Tools => Django, Git, Docker, OpenCV, SciPy, React
• Software => ImageJ, OnShape (CAD), Photoshop, Illustrator

Employment

Scientific Consultant, Self-employed (Janssen Pharmaceuticals), Oct 2024 – Present

• Developing novel tests to assess ocular function used in a worldwide phase 3 gene therapy clinical trial.
• Teaching internationally to teams of health professionals to perform this new assessment to ensure excellent scientific standards for the outcome of the trial.

Scientific Software Developer, Self-employed (UCL Institute of Ophthalmology), Sep 2022 – Sep 2024

• Developed python applications for scientists to improve data collection, processing, and analyses.
• Assisted with scientific strategy for a multitude of research projects in vision science and gene therapy.
• In charge of the entire development pipeline. Some libraries commonly used were OpenCV, CellPose, and DeepLabCut, and some use of Rust and Arduino language.

Senior Research Scientist, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology/Moorfields Eye Hospital, Apr 2017 – Oct 2022

• Primarily responsible for operation and maintenance of Adaptive Optics Scanning Light Ophthalmoscope (AOSLO), a state of the art ophthalmoscope that allows in vivo imaging of cells in the retina. In 2021 my team built an entirely new AOSLO from scratch.
• Calibrated the device, processed and analysed images, and developed new software to help better interpret novel data. In this role I first became proficient in Python.
• Named author on 23 publications, have my own first authorship in Ophthalmic Genetics, and presented at ARVO 2019.

Education

University College London (2011 - 2015) - MSci Medical Physics

• Research project: “Estimating Core Temperature Using Computer Vision Techniques in Matlab to Screen for Infectious Diseases”.

Selected Projects

GUI for analysing medical images with Python

• https://github.com/thomasmichaelkane/ao_cropper
• Developed a GUI using Python Imaging Library for processing and analysis of medical images.

Book sharing app with Django

• https://github.com/thomasmichaelkane/bookclub
• Full stack app using Django and React.

Enigma CLI with Rust

• https://github.com/thomasmichaelkane/Advent-of-Code-23
• Command line interface enigma machine cipher device, with functional rotors and plugboard, and ascii animation.

Selected Publications

[23 Publications, 356 Citations, h-index: 10]

• Kane T., et al. (2022) Photoaversion in inherited retinal diseases: clinical phenotypes, biological basis, and qualitative and quantitative assessment
• Georgiou M., Kane T., et al. (2020) Prospective Cohort Study of Childhood-Onset Stargardt Disease: Fundus Autofluorescence Imaging, Progression, Comparison with Adult-Onset Disease, and Disease Symmetry
• Georgiou M., Singh N., Kane T., et al. (2020) Photoreceptor structure in GNAT2-associated achromatopsia

Conferences and Hackathons

• UCL RITS & DiRAC Artificial Intelligence Bootcamp 2021
• Presentedt at The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting 2019 Vancouver