Yanshan Wang (PhD, FAMIA), Vice Chair for Research and Assistant Professor of Health Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh, speaks with Pitt HexAI podcast host Jordan Gass-Pooré.

Yanshan is also the interim Director of Generative AI with the University of Pittsburgh's Computational Pathology and AI Center of Excellence and he leads the Clinical Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence Innovation Laboratory (PittNAIL). Jordan and Yanshan discuss his journey into biomedical and health informatics, his role as Vice Chair of Research, his views on explainable AI, private sector engagement around AI transparency, and on emerging generative AI models and computational resources at Pitt. Yanshan closes the interview with advice for students on setting up research projects.

Pitt HexAI podcast host Jordan Gass-Poore’ speaks with three talented young student researchers from Ukraine who participated in the RAI for Ukraine program, a fully remote academic research program launched by NYU in partnership with the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv, Ukraine. The program conducts cutting-edge collaborative research on a range of responsible AI topics in collaboration with mentors from other U.S. and European universities.

Participating students: Yaroslav Klym, Vladyslav Protsenko, and Danylo Reznyk discuss the RAI for Ukraine program, their journeys into the initiative, their experiences working with the AMIIE Lab at Pace University and the HexAI Lab at the University of Pittsburgh, as well as provide insights into their research and forthcoming papers.

The RAI for Ukraine program and participating initiatives like Pitt's HexAI lab help provide high-quality research opportunities to students in Ukraine, helping to strengthen research capacity in responsible and explainable AI.

Dr. Xenophon Papademetris, Professor of Biomedical Informatics & Data Science, and Radiology & Biomedical Imaging at Yale School of Medicine speaks with Pitt HexAI guest host Jamie Gramz, Senior Director of Digital Strategy and Business Development with Siemens Healthineers. Jamie and Dr. Papademetris discuss Xenophon’s experience in medical image analysis, machine learning, and software development and his involvement in the development of medical image analysis software as well as his involvement in Yale’s Certificate Program in Medical Software and Medical AI. Jamie and Dr. Papademetris also discuss Xenophon’s textbook “Introduction to Medical Software: Foundations for Digital Health, Devices and Diagnostics” and his Coursera online class “Introduction to Medical Software”, the importance of medical software and AI education as well as the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in AI for healthcare, and they discuss explainability in AI and clinical communications.

Pitt HexAI podcast host Jordan Gass-Poore´ speaks with Beth Bauer about data and digital knowledge in the AI age, exploring foundational, strategic, and people-focused perspectives. Beth, CEO of PosiROI, Co-Founder and CEO of Communities Connected, VP of The DataJam, and Global Board Co-Chair of Program & Projects for the Healthcare Businesswomen Association’s Women in Healthcare Giveback affinity group, is a trailblazer in aligning technology, data, and analytics with people and shared goals. Known for her inspirational public speaking, extensive mentoring, and educational initiatives, Beth has shaped strategies and innovations that empower people through data for over 35 years. In this episode, she and Jordan discuss her insights on data, artificial intelligence, and explainable AI, as well as her work inspiring young people, promoting data fluency, and fostering people-centric, data-informed cultures that drive holistic, intentional outcomes.

Ashwin Kumar, a PhD candidate at Washington University in St Louis, working on fair resource allocation and explainable AI, speaks with Brent Phillips, Pitt HexAI podcast producer, about the intricacies of fairness in AI systems and about balancing fairness and efficiency in complex systems like ride-sharing and healthcare resource distribution. The discussion dives into AI transparency, human-machine interaction, multi-agent reinforcement learning, and the evolving challenges in ensuring equitable outcomes in AI decision-making. The conversation connects AI's technical workings with real-world ethical concerns.

John Carbone, Adjunct Professor of Applied AI and Applied Data Science at Baylor University speaks with Zoe Menezes, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, and Brent Phillips, Pitt HexAI podcast producer about the future of education in the AI age and how universities are adapting to the emergence of applications like ChatGPT. John elaborates on how universities like Baylor are embracing change, trying new things and and working towards keeping up with advances in technology. John also elaborates on a number of his AI connected academic papers and, on digital security in the AI age and offers advice for students and fellow faculty members on education and acquiring new skills.

Jordan Gass-Poore’, Pitt HexAI host, delves into the cutting-edge world of bioinformatics and cancer research with Dr. Aristotelis Tsirigos, a Professor of Medicine and Pathology and the Co-Director of Precision Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Tsirigos shares his journey from computer science and electrical engineering to becoming a leading figure in pathology and bioinformatics.

In this episode, they explore the latest advancements in self-supervised deep learning and its transformative impact on cancer diagnosis and management. Dr. Tsirigos discusses his former work at IBM and his current research at NYU Langone Health's Perlmutter Cancer Center, including the innovative study "Mapping the landscape of histomorphological cancer phenotypes using self-supervised learning on unannotated pathology slides." This study, conducted in collaboration with the University of Glasgow, leverages AI to identify distinct cancer phenotypes, offering new insights into cancer subtypes and potential therapeutic strategies.

Tune in to learn about the intersection of AI, molecular information, and healthcare, and how these advancements are paving the way for more precise and personalized cancer treatments

Fei Wang, Professor of Population Health Sciences and Emergency Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College and Founding Director of the WCM Institute of AI for Digital Health (AIDH) speaks with Pitt HexAI guest host Brent Phillips about Dr. Wang’s work at Cornell and about Cornell’s new Institute of AI for Digital Health. Dr. Wang and Brent also discuss new and existing data sources for health AI research, the evolution and power of complex machine learning models and their impact on informatics and computational health fields, education in the AI age and about explainable AI and advice for private sector companies interested in collaborating with academic institutions.