Pholpat Durongbhan

ドゥロンバン ポルパット

JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow, Kyushu UniversityBiothermal Engineering Laboratory, Fukuoka, Japan.Also affiliated with the University of Melbourne.Everyone calls me Big.

I make scarce, destructive, or equipment-bound measurements accessible. I build validated imaging and machine-learning pipelines that recover gold-standard readouts from data any laboratory can acquire, and I hold each surrogate to the standard it replaces.

Fig. 1. A cell aggregate about 500 µm across, drawn as a routine brightfield image (left) and as the stained section it stands in for (right). My pipelines aim to read the right from the left without cutting anything. Drag the divider to compare. Schematic, not data.

Research

The approach has worked on brain function from EEG and on joint structure from high-resolution CT. It now targets cell aggregates and early embryos, whose mechanical state reports on their function and developmental potential but cannot be measured without handling or destroying them. Everything is built to be adopted, replicated and extended by other groups.

Three lines of work, in the order I took them up. All of them are still running.

Fig. 2. The three lines and the papers on each, taken from the publication list. Filled marks are first- or corresponding-author papers. The lines are drawn to today's date; the dashed ends mean the work continues.
  1. 2017–

    Brain activity and language

    Cranfield University, United Kingdom

    Machine-learning frameworks for diagnosing dementia from EEG, using frequency, time-frequency and connectivity features. The line continues through research projects with medical students in Australia. The latest paper, in the Journal of Neuroscience Methods (2026), shows that analysis choices alone can produce apparent rich-club differences. Thai linguistics sits on this line as well, so far as a book chapter on reported thought in Thai news reports, because the next EEG work is on language.

  2. 2019–

    Joints and mineralised tissue

    Integrative Cartilage Research Group of Kathryn Stok, The University of Melbourne, Australia

    Reproducible, high-throughput morphometry of bone, cartilage and the osteochondral interface from microCT, contrast-enhanced CT and synchrotron imaging, used to track coordinated tissue change in preclinical models of osteoarthritis. The collaboration with the University of Melbourne continues, with results from the postdoc still appearing, and I review CT imaging papers for journals and conferences.

  3. 2026–

    Cell aggregates and embryos

    Cell Mechanics Group of Jeonghyun Kim, in the Biothermal Engineering Laboratory, Kyushu University, Japan

    Estimating the mechanical properties of embryos and 3D cell aggregates non-invasively, by pairing routine microscopy with quantitative image features, machine learning and experimental mechanics. This is the main programme now, supported by a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Funding

  1. 2026

    JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship (Standard Program)

    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    Establishing image-driven estimation of embryonic mechanical properties for reproductive health. Hosted by A/Prof. Jeonghyun Kim at Kyushu University. About 7% success rate.

  2. 2026

    Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow

    Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

    Data-driven mechanical characterisation of early-stage embryos for reproductive medicine. Hosted by A/Prof. Jeonghyun Kim at Kyushu University.

    生殖医療に向けた初期胚のデータ駆動型力学特性評価構築
  3. 2026

    Research Grant (A)

    Tateisi Science and Technology Foundation

    Creation of an image analysis platform integrating morphology and mechanical properties of embryos. Co-investigator leading imaging and AI development, with A/Prof. Jeonghyun Kim as PI.

    受精卵の形態と力学特性を統合した画像解析基盤の創成
  4. 2025

    Two postdoctoral fellowships, offered and declined

    University of Calgary

    The VP (Research) Postdoctoral Match-Funding Fellowship and the T. Chen Fong Postdoctoral Fellowship in Medical Imaging Science.

  5. 2024

    Early Career Researcher Grant

    The University of Melbourne

    Sole PI. High-throughput, high-resolution: a comprehensive image analysis platform for arthritis research.

  6. 2024

    Accelerate Grant

    The University of Melbourne

    Sole PI. Quantifying microstructural changes with the synchrotron: a closer look into the bone-cartilage interface.

  7. 2023

    Grant-in-Aid

    Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society and Bone Health Foundation

    Co-investigator for imaging, with K. S. Stok as PI.

  8. 2023

    Synchrotron beamtime

    Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)

    Co-investigator for image analysis, with K. S. Stok as PI.

Publications

Newest first. My name is in bold; an asterisk marks the corresponding author. Conference abstracts are listed in the CV, and citation counts are on Google Scholar.

Journal articles

  1. 2026

    K.-W. Liu, R. T. E. Pang, P. Durongbhan*. Analysis choices can produce apparent rich-club differences: an Alzheimer's disease EEG case study. Journal of Neuroscience Methods.DOI 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2026.110927

  2. 2026

    P. Durongbhan, L. A. E. Evans, A. Sharma, A. A. Pitsillides, K. S. Stok. Mechanobiology of the osteochondral unit using advanced imaging in preclinical osteoarthritis models. Osteoarthritis Imaging.DOI 10.1016/j.ostima.2026.100473

  3. 2026

    J. E. Schadow, P. Durongbhan, H. Liu, R. A. Davey, K. S. Stok. Development of an in vivo contrast-enhanced microcomputed tomography protocol for cartilage and bone imaging in mice with anionic contrast agent. Bone.DOI 10.1016/j.bone.2026.118067

  4. 2026

    Y. Dilek, J. Q. Rios, C. O'Riordan, V. Bruggink, K. Warmink, K. A. Muenzebrock, H. Chen, M. Fenu, N. Bloemhoff, P. Durongbhan, G. J. V. M. van Osch, K. S. Stok, J. P. Garcia, L. B. Creemers. Spatial and longitudinal monitoring of cartilage and intervertebral disc extracellular matrix formation using proteoglycan building blocks and click chemistry: specificity, quantification and detection upon subcutaneous implantation. Acta Biomaterialia.DOI 10.1016/j.actbio.2026.07.050

  5. 2026

    P. Durongbhan, L. A. E. Evans, D. M. Findlay, A. A. Pitsillides, B. Willie, K. S. Stok. Improving comparability of microCT assessment and reporting of subchondral bone in mouse models of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage.DOI 10.1016/j.joca.2026.05.006

  6. 2026
  7. 2026

    S. Bonaretti, M. Barzegari, M. Bevers, and 41 others, including P. Durongbhan. Open and reproducible research in musculoskeletal imaging: why it matters and how to implement it with the guidelines of the ORMIR community. JBMR Plus.DOI 10.1093/jbmrpl/ziag025

  8. 2024

    P. Durongbhan, C. E. Davey, K. S. Stok. Empirical modelling workflow for resolution invariant assessment of osteophytes. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.DOI 10.1109/TBME.2024.3431634

  9. 2024

    M. T. Kuczynski, N. J. Neeteson, K. S. Stok, A. J. Burghardt, M. A. Espinosa Hernandez, J. Vicory, J. J. Tse, P. Durongbhan, S. Bonaretti, A. K. O. Wong, S. K. Boyd, S. L. Manske. ORMIR_XCT: a Python package for high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography image processing. Journal of Open Source Software.DOI 10.21105/joss.06084

  10. 2023

    H. Liu, P. Durongbhan, C. E. Davey, K. S. Stok. Image registration in longitudinal bone assessment using computed tomography. Current Osteoporosis Reports.DOI 10.1007/s11914-023-00795-6

  11. 2023

    P. Durongbhan, J. W. MacKay, J. E. Schadow, C. E. Davey, K. S. Stok. Quantitative morphometric analysis in tibiofemoral joint osteoarthritis imaging: a literature review. Osteoarthritis Imaging.DOI 10.1016/j.ostima.2023.100088

  12. 2023

    P. Durongbhan, M. O. Silva, Z. Li, N. Ansari, R. Y. N. Kour, C. E. Davey, K. S. Stok. A microCT imaging protocol for reproducible and efficient quantitative morphometric analysis (QMA) of joint structures for in situ mouse tibio-femoral joint. Bone.DOI 10.1016/j.bone.2022.116606

  13. 2022
  14. 2021

    B. A. Besler, J. E. Schadow, P. Durongbhan, T. H. Steiner, R. J. Choo, M. A. Zulliger, M. Wilke, K. Atal, C. Firminger, A. Quintin, B. Koller, R. Müller, D. Nesic, K. S. Stok. Quantitative measures of bone shape, cartilage morphometry and joint alignment are associated with disease in an ACLT and MMx rat model of osteoarthritis. Bone.DOI 10.1016/j.bone.2021.115903

  15. 2020

    Y. Zhao, Y. Zhao, P. Durongbhan, L. Chen, S. A. Billings, P. Zis, Z. C. Unwin, M. De Marco, A. Venneri, D. J. Blackburn, P. G. Sarrigiannis. Imaging of nonlinear and dynamic functional brain connectivity based on EEG recordings with the application on diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.DOI 10.1109/TMI.2019.2953584

  16. 2019

    P. Durongbhan, Y. Zhao, L. Chen, P. Zis, M. De Marco, Z. C. Unwin, A. Venneri, X. He, S. Li, Y. Zhao, D. J. Blackburn, P. G. Sarrigiannis. A dementia classification framework using frequency and time-frequency features based on EEG signals. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.DOI 10.1109/TNSRE.2019.2909100

Book chapters

  1. 2026

    A. M. Cagnoni, H. Liu, P. Durongbhan, K. S. Stok. In vivo contrast-enhanced micro-computed tomography for whole-joint assessment in mouse models of osteoarthritis: image processing and quantitative analysis. In Cartilage, Springer.

  2. 2023

    P. Tiratanti, P. Durongbhan. Reported thought embedded in reported speech in Thai news reports. In The Grammar of Thinking: From Reported Speech to Reported Thought in the Languages of the World, De Gruyter Mouton.DOI 10.1515/9783111065830-009

Recent talks

  1. Sep 2026

    Towards 3D virtual histology of mineralised tissue

    石灰化組織の3Dバーチャル組織学に向けて

    61st Medical Engineering Collaboration Initiative, Fukuoka

  2. Sep 2026

    From stacks to stress: what imaging can and cannot tell you about 3D mechanics

    Invited seminar, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Korea

  3. Sep 2026

    Predicting the unseen: lessons from cross-modality imaging

    KAIST–Kyushu University Joint Workshop, Daejeon, Korea

  4. Jun 2026

    Quantitative image analysis: how true is your image?

    定量的画像解析：その画像は、どこまで本当か？

    JSPS Fellow Seminar, Fukuoka

  5. Feb 2025

    Imaging the osteochondral unit: insights from the synchrotron

    Nagoya–Melbourne Joint Research Workshops, Nagoya

  6. Dec 2024

    Imaging the osteochondral unit: insights from the synchrotron

    Future Global Leaders in MSK Research, Melbourne

Awards

  1. 2025

    National Innovation Visa, Critical Technologies

    Australian Government

    Tier one sector, about 3% invitation rate.

  2. 2023

    FEIT Excellence Award in Teaching and Learning

    The University of Melbourne

    For innovation in teaching programs.

  3. 2023

    Christopher and Margie Nordin Young Investigator Poster Award, finalist

    Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society

  4. 2022

    Christine and T. Jack Martin Research Travel Grant

    Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society

  5. 2021

    Argus Research Scholarship in Engineering

    The University of Melbourne

  6. 2021

    W. E. and C. H. H. Cook Memorial Award

    The University of Melbourne

  7. 2019

    Melbourne Research Scholarship

    The University of Melbourne and the Australian Research Council

    Full PhD stipend with fee remission.

  8. 2017

    Cranfield Scholarship

    Cranfield University, Centre for Computational Engineering Sciences

  9. 2015

    Dow Chemical Scholarship for Academic Excellence in Electrical Engineering

    Dow Chemical Thailand Group

Conference travel grants from ANZBMS, ANZORS, QMSKI, ORMIR and the University of Melbourne (2022 to 2025) are listed in the CV.

Service

  1. 2025–

    Lead, Research Advisory Committee

    Australian Medical Student Research Association

  2. 2024–

    Technical Advisory Board

    Open and Reproducible Musculoskeletal Imaging Research (ORMIR)

  3. 2026

    Review Committee, BHI 2026

    IEEE EMBS International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics

  4. 2025–2026

    Editor-in-Chief, ANZBMS Newsletter

    Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society

  5. 2024–2025

    Technical Program Committee, ISBI

    IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging

  6. 2024

    Scientific Review Committee and session chair, QMSKI

    International Workshop on Quantitative Musculoskeletal Imaging

Background

Positions

  1. 2026–

    JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow

    Cell Mechanics Group, Kyushu University, Japan

    Building a non-invasive, image-based platform to estimate the mechanical properties of embryos, pairing 3D confocal microscopy with quantitative feature extraction and machine-learning models.

  2. 2026–

    University Guest (Academic)

    Integrative Cartilage Research Group, The University of Melbourne, Australia

    Continuing the musculoskeletal imaging collaborations from Fukuoka.

  3. 2023–2026

    Academic Specialist and Research Fellow

    Integrative Cartilage Research Group, The University of Melbourne, Australia

    Led a reproducible, high-throughput software framework for quantitative analysis of high-resolution 3D computed tomography.

  4. 2018–2020

    Adjunct Researcher in Medical Imaging

    Cranfield University, United Kingdom

    EEG-based machine learning for dementia diagnosis.

Education

  1. 2019–2023

    PhD in Biomedical Engineering

    The University of Melbourne, Australia

    Thesis: Development and validation of image processing framework for dynamic quantitative analyses of joint and osteochondral tissues. Supervised by Prof. Kathryn Stok and A/Prof. Katie Davey.

  2. 2017–2018

    MSc in Computational and Software Techniques in Engineering

    Cranfield University, United Kingdom

    Thesis: Classification of dementia based on EEG data using advanced signal processing and machine learning approaches. Supervised by Prof. Yifan Zhao.

  3. 2012–2016

    BEng (Hons) in Electrical Engineering

    Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

    Thesis: Image registration using feature point pairs. Supervised by A/Prof. Charnchai Pluempitiwiriyawej.

Teaching

  1. 2024

    Co-lecturer, Circuits and Systems (BMEN30006)

    The University of Melbourne, Australia

    Taught the systems stream, covering signals, systems and mathematical modelling, to large biomedical engineering cohorts.

  2. 2020–2023

    Workshop demonstrator, Circuits and Systems (BMEN30006)

    The University of Melbourne, Australia

    Hands-on workshops for several hundred students over four years, including the move to remote teaching during COVID-19.

Contact

Email is the best way to reach me.

Biothermal Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan