Charles Nicklas Christensen

PhD
Agents & LLMs

University of Cambridge

Biography

Charles Nicklas Christensen is an AI/ML research scientist at GSK, focusing on foundational AI and agentic LLM research. His work includes developing new agentic workflows for drug discovery, e.g. for GSK’s AI system Jules , and accelerating inference pipelines for LLMs.

Previously, he was a ML research scientist at Oxford Nanoimaging, ONI , where he architected and productionised deep learning methods for spectral demixing, image segmentation, and super-resolution reconstruction.

Charles has a background in physics and holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, where his research centered on deep learning-based methods development, e.g. ML-SIM and ERnet , for optical microscopy and live-cell bio-imaging [Science Advances (2020) , Biomed. Opt. Express (2021) , Nature Comms. (2022) , Nature Methods (2023) ].

Download Charles Christensen’s CV.

Interests

Agents & LLMs
Reinforcement learning
Non-linear physics
Drug discovery
Bio-imaging

Education

PhD in Computational Imaging, 2022

University of Cambridge
MRes in Image Processing and Sensing, 2018

University of Cambridge
MSc in Applied Mathematics, 2017

Technical University of Denmark
BSc in Physics, 2015

Technical University of Denmark

Experience

AI/ML Research Scientist

GSK

Oct 2023 – Present London, UK

Research on agentic workflows for drug discovery, e.g. for GSK’s AI system, Jules, and acceleration of multi-node inference for in-house LLMs.

LLM research
Multi-agent systems
Drug discovery
LangGraph

ML Research Scientist

Oxford Nanoimaging, ONI

Apr 2022 – Oct 2023 Oxford, UK

Developed and deployed deep learning methods for spectral demixing, image segmentation, and super-resolution towards new product offerings. This involved R&D and MLOps. In addition to this, I have also contributed to a web-based acquisition and analysis software which involves several technologies spanning front-end, back-end and deployment.

Python
C++
Image processing
Deep learning
Pytorch
CNNs

Co-founder & CTO

Wizion AI

Oct 2019 – Sep 2022 Cambridge, UK

Together with a colleague from my research group, I co-founded Wizion AI, a company offering image processing products utilising deep learning methods inspired by research in our lab. In 2020, we were selected for the Cambridge Accelerate accelerator programme at the Judge Business School. After three years of efforts towards the development of two products, we decided to shift our focus to other opportunities.

Computer vision
MLOps
Image processing

Computer Vision Research Scientist

Tesco Technology

Jul 2021 – Oct 2021 London, UK

Within the Tesco Data Science department, I worked with the computer vision team on large-scale image classification for product recognition at the till to prevent theft.

Metric learning
Transformers
Pytorch
Pandas
TensorRT

Co-founder & Head of Data

Open-seneca

Jun 2018 – Present Cambridge, UK

Part-time involvement in non-profit organisation. Started as a research project doing my MRes and spun out in 2019 with five other PhD students.

Open-source hardware design of air quality monitor.
Deployment of sensor networks in several countries across South America, Africa, Europe and Asia.
More information https://open-seneca.org

Big data
Data visualisation
Python
Scikit-learn
MongoDB

Research Associate

Physical Computation Lab

Jul 2018 – Jan 2019 Department of Engineering, Cambridge University, UK

I worked with Professor Phillip Stanley-Marbell, head of the Physical Computation Lab. In the research project, I modelled lightness illusions in the human visual system by attempting to reproduce them with artificial neural networks.

Research Assistant

Danish Fundamental Metrology

May 2017 – Aug 2017 Lyngby, Denmark

Researched and developed a machine learning system for a novel laser based fire detector. This involved optical engineering and signal processing using machine learning techniques.

Signal processing
Time-series classification
Support vector machines

Data Consultant

VisionTrace

Sep 2017 – Dec 2016 Lyngby, Denmark

Alongside my MSc studies, I worked part-time on a number of consultant jobs including:

Developed a system for image analysis of a continuous video feed at a production facility overseen by food industry technology provider GEA.
Performed data mining on a big dataset for Danish television broadcaster TV2 with results used in a program about fitness level.

Video tracking
Data mining

Research Assistant

Department of Photonics Engineering

Sep 2017 – Jul 2017 Technical University of Denmark

Further researched the topic of my BSc thesis and wrote it up as a publication.

Markov processes
Quantum mechanics
Algebraic computation
Mathematica

Publications

Meng Lu, Charles Nicklas Christensen, Jana M. Weber, Tasuku Konno, Nino F. Läubli, Katharina M. Scherer, Edward Avezov, Pietro Lio, Alexei A. Lapkin, Gabriele S. Kaminski Schierle, Clemens F. Kaminski (2023). ERnet: a tool for the semantic segmentation and quantitative analysis of endoplasmic reticulum topology. In Nature Methods.

PDF Cite DOI GitHub

Edward N. Ward, Lisa Hecker, Charles Nicklas Christensen, Jacob R. Lamb, Meng Lu, Luca Mascheroni, Chyi Wei Chung, Anna Wang, Christopher J. Rowlands, Gabriele S.Kaminski Schierle, Clemens F. Kaminski (2022). MAI-SIM: interferometric multicolor structured illumination microscopy for everybody. In Nature Communications.

PDF Cite DOI GitHub

Charles Nicklas Christensen, Meng Lu, Edward N. Ward, Pietro Lio, Clemens F. Kaminski (2022). Spatio-temporal Vision Transformer for Super-resolution Microscopy. On arXiv.

PDF Cite DOI GitHub

Charles Nicklas Christensen, Edward N. Ward, Meng Lu, Pietro Lio, Clemens F. Kaminski (2021). ML-SIM : Universal reconstruction of structured illumination microscopy images using transfer learning. In Biomedical Optics Express.

PDF Cite DOI GitHub

Charles Nicklas Christensen, Yevgen Zainchkovskyy, Salvador Barrera-Figueroa, Antoni Torras-Rosell, Giorgio Marinelli, Kim Sommerlund-Thorsen, Jan Kleven, Mikael Lassen (2021). Simple and robust speckle detection method for fire and heat detection in harsh environments. In Applied Optics.

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