Tyler Ward
Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Computer Science
University of Kentucky
About
I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky in the Computational Health, Imaging, and Learning Laboratory (CHILL) under the supervision of Dr. Abdullah-Al-Zubaer Imran. In Fall 2026 I will be joining the faculty of Morehead State University as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Engineering Sciences.
My research interests, while diverse, generally fall into the domain of applied artificial intelligence (AI). During my Ph.D., I've focused on developing novel prompt-driven segmentation models for adaptive and data-efficient medical image analysis. Prior to my Ph.D., I was more interested in building object detection models for pedestrian and animal detection and tracking for autonomous vehicles, as well as crop detection in smart agriculture systems. I also have extensive research experience in industrial machine learning, with a particular focus on quality, reliability, and maintenance.
I received a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Morehead State University in May 2021, and an M.S. in Engineering & Technology Management from the same institution in May 2023.
News/Updates
Apr 2026: I gave a guest lecture to the CS 509: Computer and Data Ethics class at the University of Kentucky titled "Do No Harm: or, How to Stop the Medical Industry From Killing Patients with AI Nonsense".
Apr 2026: Pleased to announce that I will be joining the faculty of Morehead State University as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Engineering Sciences. Following the completion of my PhD, this position will transfer to tenure-track Assistant Professor.
Apr 2026: I gave a talk titled "Promptable Segmentation for Adaptive and Data-Efficient Medical Image Analysis" at the Department of Computer Science's Keeping Current Seminar at the University of Kentucky.
Jan 2026: I will be teaching CS 310: Algorithms and Advanced Data Structures this spring semester at Morehead State University!.
Jan 2026: Pleased to announce that I have accepted a position as an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Engineering Sciences at Morehead State University!
Dec 2025: Our paper Autoadaptive Medical Segment Anything Model has been accepted at Scientific Reports!
Nov 2025: I have passed by PhD qualifying exam!
Nov 2025: Our paper Domain and Task-Focused Example Selection for Data-Efficient Contrastive Medical Image Segmentation has been accepted at Machine Learning for Biomedical Imaging!
Oct 2025: Our paper A Probabilistic Segment Anything Model for Ambiguity-Aware Medical Image Segmentation has been accepted at SPIE Medical Imaging 2026!
Oct 2025: I have been invited to speak at the Radiology Noon Conference at Albert B. Chandler Hospital!
Aug 2025: I have been invited to give a featured presentation at the inaugural MIDL Young Researcher Showcase!
May 2025: I have been invited to attend the CIFAR Deep Learning + Reinforcement Learning (DLRL) Summer School at Amii (Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute) this summer!
Apr 2025: Our short paper Automated Intraoperative Lumpectomy Margin Detection using SAM-Incorporated Forward-Forward Contrastive Learning has been accepted at Medical Imaging with Deep Learning (MIDL) 2025!