UNSW AI Institute organises an event on AI and Medicine
Published on the 03 June 2022
The UNSW AI Institute organised the first in-person event on campus after the official establishment of the centre. The event was organised in conjunction with the Faculty of Medicine and Health on 31st May at the Design Next Studio Ainsworth Building.
UNSW has over 300 researchers who either work directly in artificial intelligence (AI), data science (DS), or machine learning (ML), or apply these tools in their application domains. The vision of UNSW AI Institute (UNSW.ai) is to synergise the resources and activities of these researchers. The goal of the first event was to explore existing and future connections and synergies between UNSW AI Institute and the Faculty of Medicine and Health. The program was put together by Prof. Louisa Jorm and Assoc. Prof. Haris Aziz.
The workshop started with opening remarks by Prof. Sean Emery from Medicine which was followed by a presentation by Haris Aziz on the goals of the UNSW AI Institute.
The next session involved rapid-fire talks by six eminent academics working at the intersection of AI and Medicine. Assoc. Prof. Blanca Gallego Luxan from the Centre for Big Data Research in Health discussed the interplay of AI with medicine and health research.
The talk was followed by a presentation by Prof. Nigel Lovell from the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering who joined online and overviewed the impressive work being done by the Tyree Foundation Institute of Health Engineering. CSE Prof. Arcot Sowmya presented her group's AI impact on clinical practice and presented several case studies where her research had solved real-world problems in medical imaging.
UNSW and Black Dog Institute's Prof. Helen Christensen shared her research on AI-driven interventions for mental health. Dr. Mayooran Namasivayam from Victor Chang Institute gave a talk on how AI can help in timely medical interventions. Finally, Dr. Fatemeh Vafee from UNSW Data Science Hub with a broad view of the AI-empowered Biomedicine Research Landscape.
UNSW
After the networking session, UNSW.ai interim director Haris Aziz chaired a panel discussion with the key personnel behind the institute. The panel members were Ian Gibson, Louisa Jorm, Toby Walsh, and Kate Carruthers.
During this one-hour panel discussion, the four panellists firstly spoke briefly about what they see as the benefits and opportunities of participation in UNSW.ai for FMH. Questions raised by FMH staff included the following. What are the various ways that FMH staff can interact with the Institute? What does membership in the Institute mean? Are there implications for assigning research income or research outputs? How do I sign up as a member?
For further information on how to sign up to become a part of UNSW AI Institute, please visit https://tinyurl.com/joinunswai