Artificial Intelligence in Health Grand Rounds to share expertise and build community

Penn State College of Medicine and Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences are launching a new Grand Rounds topic: Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Health, jointly sponsored by the Office of Vice Dean of Research and Graduate Studies at the College of Medicine, the Huck Institutes and the Department of Statistics at the Eberly College of Science.  Experts from the College of Medicine and Penn State’s University Park campus will explore various topics to advance how researchers use AI in health.

“AI continues to be a priority of the College of Medicine. Together with our health system, Penn State Health, we are uniquely situated to advance AI at the intersection of health and technology,” said Karen Kim, MD, Dean of the College of Medicine. “With our extensive data resources and outstanding faculty, we are making strides in biomedical research, education, health outcomes and value-based patient care.”

Faculty members with expertise in AI will discuss its use in imaging, omics, and electronic health records, which are all research strengths within Penn State.

“AI is a valuable tool for attacking data-rich problems, and bringing together these researchers will lay the groundwork for interdisciplinary collaborations. Penn State is known for its interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to science and this initiative will help push these strengths into the intersection of AI and health”, said Patrick Drew, PhD, Interim Director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

“Bioinformatics and artificial intelligence are constants in many aspects of our daily lives. We are excited to bring researchers to the table through this Grand Rounds series to ignite discussions about ways to use bioinformatics and artificial intelligence to understand and solve important problems and advance human health. Many of our faculty, students and staff are making significant contributions already and we see great potential to expand our impact,’ said Leslie Parent, MD, Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies.

Notable contributions from Penn State College of Medicine researchers include:

• Developing novel models for 3D imaging tissue
• Using multiscale imaging to confirm protein’s role in neuronal structure and dynamics
• Developing an artificial intelligence-based model to improve outcomes for stroke patients
• Developing a new model to understand disease risk factors
• Building an algorithm that may improve autoimmune disease prediction and therapies

The Health AI Grand Rounds will further exploit existing strength areas and foster collaborations. Researchers will present their latest work, showcase their successes, and build community and collaborations across different departments and campuses across Penn State.

“We are excited to welcome experts in the College of Medicine and across the university to share what they’re learning through their research and implementation of AI,” said Dajiang Liu, PhD, distinguished professor of public health sciences and director of AI and biomedical informatics at the College of Medicine. “Enhanced collaboration across Penn State will help us move forward in our commitment to using AI to help improve data collection and ultimately better health outcomes.”

“We’re thrilled to bring together researchers from various disciplines to explore how AI is transforming health. Our goal is to spark new ideas and foster interdisciplinary collaborations that can accelerate the adoption of AI in real-world health research,” said Lingzhou Xue, professor of statistics and 2024-2025 Huck leadership fellow.

The initial Ground Rounds will include topics and presentations from:

Oct. 30: Imaging: Keith Cheng, MD, PhD, distinguished professor of pathology, and Sharon Huang, PhD, David Reese professor of information sciences and technology.

Nov. 6: Electronic health record: Djibril Ba, MPH, PhD, assistant professor of public health sciences, and Fenglong Ma, PhD, assistant professor of information sciences and technology.

Dec. 11: Omics: Sen Yang, PhD, assistant professor of public health sciences, and Shaun Mahony, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology.

The virtual Grand Rounds will continue in the Spring and an in-person symposium is also planned. Anyone interested in learning about the AI activities at the College of Medicine and Huck Institutes is welcome to attend. Contact Dajiang Liu or Lingzhou Xue, co-organizers, for additional information.

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