The future of artificial intelligence in medicine takes center stage at CTSI AI symposium

On December 4, the inaugural AI Symposium ("Biomedical AI in Action: Practical Workshops for Clinical and Research Transformation") hosted by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) brought together leading experts in healthcare to explore the future of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine. The event, which took place on UCLA's campus at the Luskin Conference Center, welcomed over 200 participants, ranging from researchers and clinicians to students and health administrators, for a day of interactive learning and networking.

The AI Symposium featured a dynamic structure, with keynote speakers organized around key themes that showcased the diverse applications of AI in medicine. Renowned experts delivered thought-provoking presentations on topics such as AI in patient care, AI in research and mitigating bias in health system. Following the main sessions, attendees participated in smaller breakout sessions called deep dives, where they had the opportunity to engage in more intimate discussions, ask questions, and explore specific topics in greater detail. These smaller, focused groups allowed for deeper dives into AI’s role in healthcare, fostering collaborative problem-solving and offering valuable insights into the future of the field.

The keynotes and deep dive sessions included expert speakers from across the CTSI partner institutions. "Symposium speakers, drawn from all four of the CTSI’s campuses, covered in impressive depth a variety of clinical and research topics, demonstrating the substantial expertise among the CTSI faculty and staff as well as yielding a remarkable level of audience engagement with the very important theme of biomedical artificial intelligence." said Robert Jenders, MD, MS, co-chair of the AI Symposium along with Brennan Spiegel, MD, MSHS. CTSI leadership also joined as speakers in the event, including CTSI co-directors, Arash Naeim, MD, PhD, who presented on the topic of “Precision Cohorts:  AI Tools for Effective Clinical Trial Enrollment” and Arleen Brown, MD, PhD, who served as a moderator for the “Community Voices: Reducing Bias in AI for Community Health” panel session.

Much of the immediate feedback from the symposium attendees characterized the event as "engaging" and "interactive". "The speakers were engaging, and I liked that several sessions had interactive components to get participants thinking about and discussing complex topics and potential applications for AI. It was great to see colleagues and discuss potential points of collaboration," noted a symposium attendee. A post-event event survey is in the process of being collected to help inform improvements and the planning of future events around AI topics. 

To view more about the event, visit the Biomedical AI Symposium webpage.

Photo caption: (left to right, Keith Norris, MD, PhD, Brennan Spiegel, MD, MSHS, Melissa Wong, MD, MHDS, Sumeet Chugh, MD, Jason Moore, PhD, Arash Naeim, MD, PhD, and Robert Jenders, MD, MS pose for a photo following a panel discussion