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Staff Profile

Dr Sara Johansson Fernstad

Senior Lecturer in Data Science

Background


Sara is a Senior Lecturer in Data Science with 15+ years' experience of Visualization research, and Newcastle Academic Lead for the Turing University Network. She received a PhD from Norrköping Visualization Centre-C, Linköping University, Sweden, in 2011, with a thesis titled Algorithmically Guided Information Visualization: Explorative Approaches for High Dimensional, Mixed and Categorical Data. Following her PhD she held positions as Data Visualization Scientist at Unilever R&D Port Sunlight (2011-2013), and as Postdoctoral Researcher in Data Visualization at the Unilever Centre for Molecular Science Informatics at Cambridge University, UK (2013-2014). This was followed by a lectureship in Computer Science at Northumbria University, UK (promoted to Senior Lecturer 2016). She was appointed Lecturer in Data Science at Newcastle University, UK, in 2017.


Google Scholar: Click here.

Research

Sara's main interests are in research challenges relating to visualization of incomplete (missing), uncertain, high dimensional and/or heterogeneous data; visualization of biomedical and ‘omics-type’ data; visualization in data profiling; and human centred visualization design. These challenges are all highly relevant in a range of application domains, not least in biomedical domains and life sciences, which are becoming more and more data driven. Her work on interactive visual dimensionality reduction in collaboration with microbiologists has been applied in industry and academia, leading to eight joint publications and funding of two PhD studentships.


Sara's research can broadly be separated into four major themes, which often cross each other’s paths: Visualization of Missing Data, Visual Exploration of 'Omics Data, Interactive Visual Exploration of High Dimensional Data, and Visualization of Heterogeneous Data. As an overarching theme to this lies the concept of 'interestingness'. How do we bring out the most interesting and useful information in a dataset? How do we define what is interesting? How can we use 'interestingness' to support knowledge discovery and gaining of insights in the most useful way? At the heart of this lies the human who need to understand and make decisions based on complex data, and to address and define their analytical needs through the utilisation of user and task centred design approaches. 


Current PhD supervision:

  • Hugh Garner. Interactive visualization of temporal multi-omic data. EPSRC
  • Sarah Alsufyani. Visualisation for investigation of structural missingness: Application to the ICICLE Mobility Dataset.
  • Lama Alsmmahi. Multi-omics Data Visualization for Paediatric Cancer Patients.
  • Fatimah Alqahtani. Adaptive Colormap Optimizatino for Enhanced Perceptiual Clarity.
  • Jinxuan Cui. Explorable Explanations of Machine Learning Model Behaviours. (second supervisor)
  • Jason Green. Exploring inequalities in electronic healthcare data and the implication of AI-driven clinical decision aids. (second supervisor)

Past PhD supervision:

  • Dr Hanin Alzahrani (2021-2024) Improving the usability of complex biological networks through interestingness measures and interactive visualization.
  • Dr Kenan Koc (2018-2022). Information Visualization Approach to Form Balanced Groups. 
  • Dr Alexander Macquisten (2017-2022). Hierarchical Visualization of High Dimensional Data: Interactive Exploration of 'Omics Type Data. BBSRC & Unilever R&D
  • Dr Halil Agin (2016-2019, Northumbria University). Extracting Knowledge from Statistical Model by Brushing in Parameter Space.


Sara was co-Investigator of the following funded projects:


Google scholar profile


Invited talks:

  • To See What Isn't There - Visualisation of Missing Data. University of Bristol Data Science Seminar (online). June 2021. 
  • To See What Isn't There - Visualisation of Missing Data. Norrkoping Visualization Centre - C, Linkoping University, Sweden. April 2019.
  • Designing Interactive Visual Analytics Tools for Exploration of Microbial Communities. Centre for Bioinformatics, Hamburg University, Germany. Jan 2018.
  • To See What Isn't There - Visualisation of Missing Data. Unilever R&D Colworth, UK. Oct 2017.
  • To See What Isn't There - Visualisation of Missing Data. School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, UK. April 2017.
  • To See What Isn't There - Visualisation of Missing Data. School of Computing Science, University of Leeds, UK. Feb 2015.
  • Designing Visual Analytics Tools for Exploration of Microbial Ecology. Oxford e-Research Centre, University of Oxford, UK. May 2014.


Teaching

Current teaching


Past teaching


Publications

  • Articles

  • Book Chapter

  • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • Alsufyani S, Forshaw M, Del Din S, Yarnall A, Rochester L, Johansson Fernstad S. Multi-level visualization for exploration of structures in missing data. In: EG UK Computer Graphics & Visual Computing. 2024, University of London, UK: The Eurographics Association.
    • Holliman NS, Coltekin A, Fernstad SJ, McLaughlin L, Simpson MD, Woods AJ. Entropy Ordered Shapes as Bivariate Glyphs. In: IS and T International Symposium on Electronic Imaging Science and Technology. 2024, Burlingame, California: Society for Imaging Science and Technology.
    • Cantu A, Micó-Amigo E, Del Din S, Fernstad SJ. Parallel Assemblies Plot, a visualization tool to explore categorical and quantitative data: application to digital mobility outcomes. In: IEEE 16th Pacific Visualization Symposium (PacificVis). 2023, Seoul, Korea, Republic of: IEEE.
    • Garner H, Johansson Fernstad S. Comparative Evaluation of the Scatter Plot Matrix and Parallel Coordinates Plot Matrix. In: 26th International Conference Information Visualisation (IV2022). 2022, Vienna, Austria: IEEE.
    • Johansson Fernstad S, Macquisten A, Berrington J, Embleton N, Stewart C. Quality Metrics to Guide Visual Analysis of High Dimensional Genomics Data. In: EuroVis Workshop on Visual Analytics (EuroVA). 2020, Norrköping, Sweden: The Eurographics Association.
    • Macquisten A, Smith A, Fernstad S. Evaluation of Hierarchical Visualization for Large and Small Hierarchies. In: 2020 24th International Conference Information Visualisation (IV). 2020, Melbourne, Australia: IEEE.
    • Fernstad SJ, Glen RC. Visual analysis of missing data - To see what isn't there. In: IEEE Visual Analytics Science and Technology. 2014, Paris, France: IEEE.
    • Fernstad SJ, Johansson J, Adams S, Shaw J, Taylor D. Visual exploration of microbial populations. In: Biological Data Visualization (BioVis), 2011 IEEE Symposium on. 2011, Providence, RI, USA: IEEE.
    • Fernstad SJ, Johansson J. A task based performance evaluation of visualization approaches for categorical data analysis. In: Information Visualisation (IV), 2011 15th International Conference on. 2011, London, UK: IEEE.
    • Johansson S. Visual exploration of categorical and mixed data sets. In: ACM SIGKDD Workshop on Visual Analytics and Knowledge Discovery: Integrating Automated Analysis with Interactive Exploration. 2009, Paris, France: ACM.
    • Johansson S, Knaving K, Lane A, Jern M, Johansson J. Interactive exploration of ingredient mixtures using multiple coordinated views. In: Information Visualisation, 2009 13th International Conference. 2009, Barcelona, Spain: IEEE.
    • Johansson S, Jern M, Johansson J. Interactive quantification of categorical variables in mixed data sets. In: Information Visualisation, 2008. IV '08. 12th International Conference. 2008, London, UK: IEEE.

  • Notes

    • Kirk C, Kuderle A, Mico-Amigo ME, Bonci T, Ullrich M, Soltani A, Gazit E, Salis F, Alcock L, Aminian K, Becker C, Bertuletti S, Brown P, Buckley E, Cantu A, Carsin A-E, Caruso M, Caulfield B, Cereatti A, Chiari L, D'Ascanio I, Garcia-Aymerich J, Hansen C, Hausdorff JM, Hiden H, Hume E, Keogh A, Kluge F, Koch S, Maetzler W, Megaritis D, Mueller A, Niessen M, Palmerini L, Schwickert L, Scott K, Sharrack B, Sillen H, Singleton D, Vereijken B, Vogiatzis I, Yarnall AJ, Rochester L, Mazza C, Eskofier BM, Del Din S, Van Gelder L, Vaci L, Radford A, Priest D, Pattanaik D, Patel S, Paling D, Nair S, Mubarak-Mohamed A, Moll S, Misraq S, McNeil J, Long M, Lanfranchi V, Islam M, Ishmail A, Ireson N, Haslam L, Han S, Ciravegna F, Brittain G, Birchall S, Shi JQ, Pantall A, Packer E, Neatrour I, Amigo EM, Lirani-Silva E, Fernstad SJ, Hinchliffe C, Hart A, Gibson A, Galna B, Cordova-Rivera L, Brown P, Bailey H, Bacardit J, Armitage G, Philip M, Mac Namee B, Kechadi T, Ifrim G, Goulding C, Bevilaqua A, Winkler J, Weitzenfelder A, Stirnweiss T, Stallforth S, Seifferth S, Rothhammer V, Regensburger M, Nickel F, Marxreiter F, Klucken J, Jukic J, Huhn K, Greinwalder T, Gassner H, Dettmer S, Zumbrunnen V, Spielmanns M, Spielmanns S, Sigrist T, Riegler T, Puhan M, Polhemus A, Maggi-Beba M, Keller M, Hackl K, Frei A, Buesching G, Zaffaroni M, Tacchino A, Rodegher M, Martinis M, Mahajneh A, Leocani L, Giancarlo C, Costa GD, Brichetto G, Bonanno V, Manca A, AndreaCereatti, Chynkiamis N, Yehezkyahu S, Saban A, Mirelman A, Hillel I, Herman T, Hausdorff J, Giladi N, Thumm PC, Buzaglo D, Brozgol M, Shnider S, Reich M, Melamed M, Loupe P, Gordon M, Fry L, Tolkoff M, Merlo-Pich E, Dowling A, Ciucchiuini A, Chambers M, Jouannin M, Cariou M, Bonche F, Bascle S, Ammour N, Zoller V, Wohlrab M, Uysal E, Schwab M, Rapp K, Mikolaizak S, Litz E, Klenk J, Kinner B, Jansen C-P, Jaeger S, Huber C, Gierka M, Endress C, Brenner N, Zimmermann I, Watz H, Russ M, Paash K, Kirsten A-M, Zhang H, Tarachandani A, Stokes E, Psaltos D, Mather J, Karahanoglu I, Junrui D, Gameiro M, Demanuele C, Cai X, van Steenbergen L, Schluechter S, Roubenoff R, Praestgaard J, Miller R, Maahs S, Lukawy J, Penna SH, Hariry S, Hache T, Grenet O, Erdemli G, Dartee W, Bunte O, Taraldsen K, Skaslien E, Saltvedt I, Odden M, Midtsand I, Marcuzzi A, Johnsen LG, Helbostad J, Gronvik KB, Engdal M, Diaconu M, Berge MA, Hyvert Y, Aydemir A, Siepman L, Mouthaan N, Frouws S, Evers J, Cornelisse L, Wuyts M, Witvrouw M, Vanhoutte T, Troosters T, Nieuwboer A, Janssenns W, Hulzinga F, Hulst L, Haerens V, Glorie L, Ginis P, Ghosh N, Demeyer H, Breuls S, Wenn D, Jackson M, Williams P, Polkey M, Philip K, Perkins A, Hopkinson N, Buttery S, Skerrit B, Skackov M, Schueler P, Chavez IR, Quinn G, Mc Carthy M, Ramanna KM, Malouvier A, Lalor R, Kelly S, Kelly S, Howard K, Holt B, Fox R, Edieux M-S, Borlikova G, Froehlich M, Ahmad A, Jose A, Gimeno-Santos E, Aymerich JG, Garcia MF, Ortiz LD, Llobet AD, Cobo I, Cardenas G, Buekers J, de Basea MB, Serrano VA, Eskofier B, Ionescu A, Ionescu A, Sowalsky K, Sekaram A, Reed D, Raymond S, Pletneva N, Nica N, Krieger S, Imeri S, Horak F, Gizdic A, Folaron P, Beckstrom K, Arnera V, Schlenstedt C, Maetzler C, Kudelka J, Hildesheim H, Emmert K, Berg D, Verissimo A-S, Murauer E, Miot S, Kaan C, Galtier F, Driss V, Dagneaux L, Cerret F, Canovas F, Broussous S, Blain H, Ahachad H, Trubel H, Piraino P, Kramer F, Knezevic I, Boettger M, Saraiva G, Rohou SC, Mugnier P, Jornten-karlsson M, Jarretta D, Havsol J, Simon J, Shen L, Radcliffe H-S, Pourbaix N, Pocrzepa M, Knusel B, Kassner A, Gnacadja G, Elliot-Davey M, Doyle M, Desmond J, D'Apote L, Viceconti M, Reggi L, Ranciati S, Galimberti G, De Michele R, Davico G, Curreli C, Bottin F. Correction to: Mobilise-D insights to estimate real-world walking speed in multiple conditions with a wearable device (Scientific Reports, (2024), 14, 1, (1754), 10.1038/s41598-024-51766-5). Scientific Reports 2024, 14(1), 28878.
    • Mico-Amigo ME, Bonci T, Paraschiv-Ionescu A, Ullrich M, Kirk C, Soltani A, Kuderle A, Gazit E, Salis F, Alcock L, Aminian K, Becker C, Bertuletti S, Brown P, Buckley E, Cantu A, Carsin A-E, Caruso M, Caulfield B, Cereatti A, Chiari L, D'Ascanio I, Eskofier B, Fernstad S, Froehlich M, Garcia-Aymerich J, Hansen C, Hausdorff JM, Hiden H, Hume E, Keogh A, Kluge F, Koch S, Maetzler W, Megaritis D, Mueller A, Niessen M, Palmerini L, Schwickert L, Scott K, Sharrack B, Sillen H, Singleton D, Vereijken B, Vogiatzis I, Yarnall AJ, Rochester L, Mazza C, Del Din S. Correction to: Assessing real-world gait with digital technology? Validation, insights and recommendations from the Mobilise-D consortium (Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, (2023), 20, 1, (78), 10.1186/s12984-023-01198-5). Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 2024, 21(1), 71.

  • Review

  • Working Paper