Wake Forest University School of Medicine established the Center for Artificial Intelligence Research to foster better health across our School’s local and national communities by advancing the science and application of artificial intelligence through research, education, and innovation. The Center is led by Dr. Metin Gurcan, Professor of Internal Medicine. This cross-disciplinary initiative will position our School to lead the increasingly important field of artificial intelligence in healthcare and medicine by complementing the work of other research centers.
Mission
Our mission is to advance and promote research, education, and innovation in the field of artificial intelligence, with a focus on enhancing the quality and safety of healthcare, reducing health disparities, and fostering better health outcomes.
Vision
Our vision is to establish ourselves as a global leader in the development and ethical implementation of advanced artificial intelligence technologies. Through these advancements, we aim to transform disease prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment, ultimately improving overall health and ensuring widespread access to healthcare.
Center Goals
We seek to achieve our mission by pursuing the following goals:
- Research: Conduct cutting-edge AI research, exploring its applications in healthcare.
- Education: Facilitate comprehensive educational programs, including workshops, seminars, and formal training activities.
- Innovation: Create AI-driven solutions that have a tangible impact on healthcare delivery and translate research findings into practical applications.
Highlighted News
Dr. Su's dissertation, "Theory and Design of Interpretable Weakly Supervised Learning Methods: Application to Breast Cancer Histopathology," is an example of innovative and impactful research conducted at CAIR.
Dr. Su's research addressed one of the most pressing challenges in medical AI: developing reliable and interpretable models for histopathological analysis.
Leveraging weakly supervised learning methods and the Multiple Instance Learning (MIL) paradigm, his work addressed the inherent challenges of whole-slide imaging in breast cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Dr. Su’s novel approaches yielded state-of-the-art results in identifying breast cancer lymph node metastases and predicting Oncotype-DX recurrence risk – advancing AI tools that are both accurate and clinically interpretable.
Dr. Su began his PhD journey in 2020 and was a member of CIALAB (Clinical Image Analysis Lab) at CAIR. He was mentored by Metin Gurcan, PhD, and Khalid Niazi, PhD, and also received invaluable guidance from Ashley Weaver, PhD, Gary H. Tozbikian, MD, Sang Jin Lee, PhD, and Scott Gayzik, PhD. Their collective expertise and mentorship reflect CAIR's commitment to fostering innovation in healthcare AI.
"Ziyu’s success exemplifies CAIR’s mission to advance the science and application of AI in healthcare through cutting-edge research and education as well as our dedication to health equity," Dr. Gurcan says. "As our first CAIR PhD graduate, his achievements set a high benchmark for future scholars."
Dr. Su's accomplishments highlight CAIR's dedication to preparing the next generation of AI leaders. As he embarks on his professional career, CAIR looks forward to seeing his continued impact on the field of AI in healthcare.
Ashish K. Khanna, MD, FCCP, FCCM, FASA, Professor of Anesthesiology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, was named the winner of the Wake Forest Center for Artificial Intelligence Research’s (CAIR) inaugural Collaborative Innovation in AI Award.
The award is an annual grant that provides $40,000 in funding to cutting-edge medical research that involves an industry collaborator. Dr. Khanna and his research team – including Bradley Rowland, MD, Carolyn Huffman, PhD, and Megan Hicks, MD – received the funding for their study, “Reducing Alarm Fatigue in Non-ICU Wards: An AI-Powered Solution for Smarter Monitoring,” which was conducted in partnership with WARD 24/7, a digital health company based in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Many hospitals use wearable tech to monitor patients’ vital signs continuously, but too many false and unnecessary alerts can overwhelm clinicians, making it harder to catch real emergencies.
To make patient monitoring more efficient, Dr. Khanna’s team is testing an AI-powered system called WARD CSS (Clinical Support System), which was developed by the Danish firm. The system filters out irrelevant alerts and helps detect real warning signs earlier, which the researchers hope will improve clinician response times and ultimately save lives.
“The results have the potential to revolutionize continuous patient monitoring in non-intensive care settings, offering a scalable, effective solution to improve outcomes while reducing the burden on healthcare providers," Dr. Khanna says. "As an academic learning health system that has pioneered the implementation of continuous ward monitoring, we hope that we will now also pioneer the future integration of AI-based tools with ward monitoring to further enhance patient safety and useability of these tools in routine clinical practice."
Please join CAIR in congratulating Dr. Khanna and his team on this well-deserved recognition. We look forward to seeing the impact of their work in the years to come.
Ashish K. Khanna, MD, FCCP, FCCM, FASA |
Bradley Rowland, MD |
Carolyn Huffman, PhD |
Megan Hicks, MD |
Dr. Karabayir has been awarded $30,000 to lead an innovative research project titled, "CG-AI for Predicting Short-Term Mortality and Myocardial Infarction in Emergency Department (ED) Chest Pain Presentations," of which he is the principal investigator. Oguz Akbilgic, PhD, Simon Mahler, MD, and Nicklaus Powell Ashburn, MD, are serving as co-investigators.
These researchers have developed an AI model that uses electrocardiogram (ECG) data to detect elevated troponin levels, a key indicator of heart attacks. Building on this work, they aim to develop a faster, automated tool that integrates ECG, troponin, and simple clinical factors to improve heart attack risk prediction and support clinical decision-making.
Dr. Karabayir joined CAIR as a faculty member in the summer of 2024. In this brief video, he provides an overview of his research program and shares his long-term objectives.
CAIR partnered with CIIRRC to host a joint-pilot collaboration event on Aug. 29, 2024. Researchers from both centers shared insights through brief presentations, highlighting novel AI and machine-learning applications in critical care. If you missed the event, you can check out the highlights in this recap video.
CAIR is proud to collaborate with Wake Forest CIIRRC in funding this impactful research and looks forward to seeing how it will advance AI applications in healthcare.
Event co-hosted with CAIR’s student chapter gave aspiring medical professionals the chance to explore AI’s transformative role in healthcare.
A one-of-a-kind educational event took place this winter, the result of a collaborative effort between the Wake Forest Center for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR) and its enterprising student chapter, the Future of Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR).
The inaugural “AI for Future Clinicians” Workshop, held Feb. 6 at the Bowman Grey Center for Medical Education in Winston-Salem, NC, was designed for students without a technical background, giving the attendees a chance to discover how AI is shaping the future of healthcare and learn from experts who are pioneering novel applications.
The workshop marked the most significant collaboration between CAIR and FAIR to date. Event planning was spearheaded by Hindo Kamanda, Eric Proctor, and David Rezko, three Wake Forest University School of Medicine students who comprise FAIR’s MD Subcommittee.
“We think it’s important to have events such as these because we don’t want our peers to be intimidated by AI technology. We’d like for them to feel empowered to use it as a tool that can help them become better clinicians who serve their patients holistically. So, it’s exciting that so many of them want to learn more and are taking the steps to do so,” the subcommittee said in a joint statement.
The event featured experts from CAIR and Atrium Health, including:
- CAIR faculty member Oguz Akbilgic, PhD, who kicked things off with a presentation covering the fundamentals of AI, its current applications in healthcare, and its efficacy in areas like heart failure risk prediction.
- Bradley Rowland Jr., MD; Adam Moses, MHA, PMP, FAMIA; and CAIR faculty member Eric Kirkendall, MD, MBI, gave an overview of AI’s expanding role in healthcare operations. They explained how AI is being integrated into clinical workflows at Atrium Health and covered best practices for responsible deployment.
- Sean Catley, MPH, shared his innovative research, “Artificial Intelligence Enhanced Otoscopy – A Rated Approach to Image Generation (RatedStitch),” which aims to enhance the digital otoscope as a diagnostic tool. Mentored by CAIR Director Metin Gurcan, PhD, Sean showcased his work at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s Medical Student Research Day and secured third place.
CAIR expresses its deepest gratitude to each of the speakers for sharing their time and expertise. Special thanks are also due to the FAIR MD Subcommittee as well as FAIR’s president, Robert Bennett, who has shown tremendous dedication to growing the student organization. Students who are interested in joining FAIR should email fair@wakehealth.edu for more information.
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