Rupert J Ward
1
Personal details
Name:
Address:
Rupert J Ward
10 Stevens Avenue,
Hackney, London E9 6RX
Date of birth:
Email:
Nationality:
12th July 1966
Rupe@arseweb.com
British
Education
2004
PhD. in Anatomy and Human Morphology:
“Assessment of radiographic tibiofemoral joint space width measurements: reproducibility
and practicability for clinical trials in osteoarthritis”
University of London (KCL)
1993
MSc. in Cognitive Science & Intelligent Computing (distinction)
University of Westminster
Modules:
Artificial intelligence programming
Artificial neural networks
Linguistics
Visual processing & computer vision
Natural language processing
Finite element analysis
Project: “Implementing Koenderink’s receptive field families on discrete arrays”.
Undertaken in Dr ACF Colchester’s research group in the Dept of Neurology at Guy’s
Hospital Medical School. I developed a genetic algorithm in C++ and applied it to the task
of finding the optimal discrete spatial filter for approximating convolution with an
arbitrary continuous kernel function.
1989
BA (Hons) in Mathematics & Philosophy (2:1)
Balliol College, Oxford University
Finals papers:
Pure & applied algebra
Integration & transform theory
Complex analysis & topology
Functional analysis
Logic & set theory
History of philosophy from Descartes to Kant
Philosophical questions (incl. philosophies of maths, science and
logic)
Later philosophy of Wittgenstein
Dissertation on epistemological pragmatism
1983/84
5 ‘A’ levels in Pure Maths (A), Physics (A), Chemistry (B), English (B), and Art (E)
Computing skills:
C++ in unix/linux (X-windows) & Microsoft Windows (MFC). As part of my work at KCL I have
developed a large modular graphical package ‘Mdisplay’ for fast and flexible implementation of
image-processing algorithms, which has been used in several large clinical trials.
Perl/HTML/XML/Javascript/cgi. I have been running a successful web site in my spare time
for 11 years. This includes a news database written in perl, in which news stories are saved as text files
which are then converted to HTML, XML (RSS feed), and WML versions.
I also have experience of unix/linux system administration, SQL, BASIC, PROLOG, assembly
language, basic Java, MATLAB, and scripting languages in various packages.
Software which I have used over the years include statistical packages (Stata, Systat, SPSS), Excel,
MS-Word, Wordperfect, LaTex, Mathematica, Access, Powerpoint, CorelDraw, WordPerfect,
MathCad, Gimp, Paint Shop Pro.
Rupert J Ward
2
Employment record
November 1993
to October 2006:
Research Associate,
Applied Clinical Anatomy Department,
King’s College London (Guy’s Hospital campus)
The Applied Clinical Anatomy department at Guys has been at the forefront of radiographic
measurement of bone and joint disease for many years. Particular successes have been the development
and validation of measurements of joint spaces and bone texture from digitised radiographs, in
particular for application in clinical trials of osteoarthritis. Our mensural and radiographic methods for
measurement of tibiofemoral joint space width became the industry standard and have been used in
large multinational clinical trials.
My role in the group has included the design, implementation, and validation (to meet FDA audit
requirements) of various measurement algorithms (tibiofemoral and hip joint-space width, osteophyte
area, fractal signature analysis, subchondral cortical thickening) within Mdisplay (see ‘Computing
skills, C++’ above); considerable involvement in the design, monitoring, and analysis of radiographic
studies; training and management of measurement operators; liaison with pharmaceutical companies
(including explaining mathematical/statistical/scientific concepts to groups of lay-people from a variety
of backgrounds); writing of measurement protocols and standard operating procedures; and supervision
of students (PhD, MSc, intercalated BSc.). I was the statistician for the group, and provided technical
support of various kinds (including statistics, maths, programming, scientific research methodology,
computer systems administration), to the head of department and other researchers.
The department closed at the end of September 2006. At this time I was working on a new
experimental microfocal CT set, which involved writing an MFC GUI for acquisition of projection
images, incorporating interaction with a frame-grabber and the stepper-motors driving the CT
turntable. Unfortunately, we ran out of time.
References
1. Professor Chris Buckland-Wright PhD DSc,
2. Charles Bird MD PhD,
Applied Clinical Anatomy Dept,
Hodgkin Building, 4th floor,
KCL, Guy’s Hospital Campus,
London Bridge, London SE1 1UL
Science & Technology Policy,
MOD, Level 1, Zone K,
Main Building,
London SW1A 2HB
chris.buckland-wright@kcl.ac.uk
020 7848 8035
charles.bird512@mod.uk
020 7218 3436
Prof. Buckland-Wright was my last
employer
Dr Bird worked with me at Guys for many
years and was my line manager for a while.
Rupert J Ward
3
Publications
Ward RJ and Buckland-Wright JC. Rates of tibiofemoral joint space narrowing in osteoarthritis
unchanged by radiographic method. Osteoarthritis Cart 2006. [In press]
Ward RJ, Buckland-Wright JC, and Wolfe F. Relationships between tibial rim alignment and joint
space width measurement reproducibility in non-fluoroscopic radiographs of osteoarthritic
knees. Osteoarthritis Cart 2005; 13: 945-52.
Messent EA, Ward RJ, Tonkin CJ, and Buckland-Wright JC. Differences in trabecular structure
between knees with and without osteoarthritis quantified by macro and standard radiography,
respectively. Osteoarthritis Cart 2006. [In press]
Messent EA, Ward RJ, Tonkin CJ, and Buckland-Wright JC. Osteophytes, juxta-articular
radiolucencies and cancellous bone changes in the proximal tibia of patients with
osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cart 2006. [In press]
Buckland-Wright JC, Messent EA, Bingham III CO, Ward RJ, and Tonkin C. A 2 year longitudinal
radiographic study examining the effect of a bisphosphonate (rsedronate) upon subchondral
bone loss in osteoarthritic knee patients. Rheumatol 2006. [In press]
Messent EA, Ward RJ, Tonkin CJ, and Buckland-Wright JC. Cancellous bone differences between
knees with early, definite, and advanced joint space loss; a comparative quantitative
macroradiographic study. Osteoarthritis Cart 2005; 13: 39-47.
Messent EA, Ward RJ, Tonkin CJ, and Buckland-Wright JC. Tibial cancellous bone changes in
patients with knee osteoarthritis: a short-term longitudinal study using Fractal Signature
Analysis. Osteoarthritis Cart 2005; 13: 463-70.
Papaloucas CD, Ward RJ, Tonkin CJ, and Buckland-Wright JC. Cancellous bone changes in hip
osteoarthritis: a short-term longitudinal study using fractal signature analysis. Osteoarthritis
Cart 2005; 13: 998-1003.
Buckland-Wright JC, Ward RJ, Peterfy C, Mojcik CF, and Leff RL. Reproducibility of the semi-flexed
(MTP) radiographic knee position and automated measurements of medial tibiofemoral joint
space width in a multicentre clinical trial of osteoarthritis. J Rheumatol 2004; 31: 1588-97.
Buckland-Wright JC, Bird CF, Ritter-Hrnicik CA, Cline GA, Tonkin C, Hangartner TN, Ward RJ,
Meyer JM, and Meredith MP. X-ray technologists’ reproducibility from automated
measurements of the medial tibiofemoral joint space width in knee osteoarthritis for a
multicenter, multinational clinical trial. J.Rheumatol 2003; 30: 328-38
Mazzuca SA, Brandt KD, Buckland-Wright JC, Buckwalter KA, Katz BP, Lynch JA, Ward RJ, and
Emsley CL. Field test of the reproducibility of automated measurements of the medial
tibiofemoral joint space width derived from standardized knee radiographs. J Rheumatol
1999; 26: 1359-65
Buckland-Wright JC, Wolfe F, Ward RJ, Flowers N, and Hayne C. Substantial superiority of semiflexed (MTP) views in knee osteoarthritis: a comparative radiographic study, without
fluoroscopy, of standing extended, semi-flexed (MTP) and schuss views. J Rheumatol 1999;
26: 2664-74
Buckland-Wright JC, Macfarlane DG, Williams SA, and Ward RJ. Accuracy and precision of joint
space width measurements in standard and macroradiographs of osteoarthritic knees. Ann
Rheum Dis 1995; 54: 872-80.
Ward RJ, Buckland-Wright JC, Macfarlane DG, and Williams S. Radio-anatomic positioning and
radiographic magnification correction improve joint space width measurement in osteoarthritis
knees [Poster Abstract]. Roentgen Centenary Congress 1995 (British Institute of Radiology)