Professor Ana Namburete
Rokos Tutorial Fellow in Computer Science
Associate Professor of Health Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
Originally from Mozambique, I took the International Baccalaureate at the United World College of Southern Africa in Eswatini before moving to Canada, where I studied Biomedical Engineering at Simon Fraser University. A Commonwealth Scholarship brought me to Oxford for a DPhil in Engineering Science, and I have been here ever since.
My research grew directly out of my background. Growing up in a country where advanced medical imaging is largely unavailable, I became interested early on in building tools that work not just in well-equipped hospitals, but in the settings where they are most needed. That is what drew me to ultrasound and machine learning: together, they make it possible to study how the brain develops before birth in ways that are safe, affordable, and accessible anywhere in the world. After my DPhil, I held a postdoctoral position funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, before being awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship to establish my independent research group.
In 2021, I joined the Department of Computer Science and Pembroke College as Rokos Tutorial Fellow, re-establishing Computer Science at Pembroke, where the subject had not been offered for over 20 years. I care deeply about inclusion in research and in the university, both because of my own experience as someone who came to this field by an unconventional route, and because I believe the most important scientific questions are best answered by the most diverse teams.
Ana tutors undergraduates in Computer Science. Subjects covered include Algorithms and Data Structures, Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Linear Algebra, and Functional Programming. She re-established Computer Science at Pembroke after a 20-year hiatus.
In the Department of Computer Science, she designed and teaches Deep Learning in Healthcare, taken by undergraduate students as a Part A/B course.
Primary function:
- Tutorial Fellow in Computer Science
Committee memberships:
- Academic Committee
- Governing Body
Ana's research uses machine learning to study how the brain develops before birth, through ultrasound. Her group builds AI tools that extract precise measurements from fetal brain scans: information invisible to the human eye, but measurably linked to how children develop in later life. A landmark paper in Nature (2023) established the first normative atlas of fetal brain maturation, connecting brain growth trajectories to children's outcomes at age two. A particular focus is ensuring these tools work beyond well-resourced hospitals, including in low-income settings where ultrasound is often the only available option. Her research is funded by an ERC Starting Grant, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, EPSRC, and the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Professor Ana Namburete
Rokos Tutorial Fellow in Computer Science
Associate Professor of Health Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
Originally from Mozambique, I took the International Baccalaureate at the United World College of Southern Africa in Eswatini before moving to Canada, where I studied Biomedical Engineering at Simon Fraser University. A Commonwealth Scholarship brought me to Oxford for a DPhil in Engineering Science, and I have been here ever since.
My research grew directly out of my background. Growing up in a country where advanced medical imaging is largely unavailable, I became interested early on in building tools that work not just in well-equipped hospitals, but in the settings where they are most needed. That is what drew me to ultrasound and machine learning: together, they make it possible to study how the brain develops before birth in ways that are safe, affordable, and accessible anywhere in the world. After my DPhil, I held a postdoctoral position funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, before being awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship to establish my independent research group.
In 2021, I joined the Department of Computer Science and Pembroke College as Rokos Tutorial Fellow, re-establishing Computer Science at Pembroke, where the subject had not been offered for over 20 years. I care deeply about inclusion in research and in the university, both because of my own experience as someone who came to this field by an unconventional route, and because I believe the most important scientific questions are best answered by the most diverse teams.
Ana tutors undergraduates in Computer Science. Subjects covered include Algorithms and Data Structures, Design and Analysis of Algorithms, Linear Algebra, and Functional Programming. She re-established Computer Science at Pembroke after a 20-year hiatus.
In the Department of Computer Science, she designed and teaches Deep Learning in Healthcare, taken by undergraduate students as a Part A/B course.
Primary function:
- Tutorial Fellow in Computer Science
Committee memberships:
- Academic Committee
- Governing Body
Ana's research uses machine learning to study how the brain develops before birth, through ultrasound. Her group builds AI tools that extract precise measurements from fetal brain scans: information invisible to the human eye, but measurably linked to how children develop in later life. A landmark paper in Nature (2023) established the first normative atlas of fetal brain maturation, connecting brain growth trajectories to children's outcomes at age two. A particular focus is ensuring these tools work beyond well-resourced hospitals, including in low-income settings where ultrasound is often the only available option. Her research is funded by an ERC Starting Grant, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, EPSRC, and the Academy of Medical Sciences.