Uduak George Named AIM-AHEAD Fellow by National Institutes of Health

 

Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms have the potential to accelerate biomedical innovation by identifying new patterns in diagnostic data. But these tools also have a reputation for perpetuating harmful biases against people of color, who simultaneously face disproportionate rates of disease and higher odds of medical practitioners dismissing their symptoms.

A new program funded by the National Institutes of Health is working to include more diverse researchers to ensure that computational techniques in healthcare are informed by the people they directly affect. Uduak George, a mathematical biologist in San Diego State University's Department of Mathematics and Statistics, is among the first researchers to spearhead these efforts as part of the Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) leadership program.

George's research uses computational modeling to better understand the mechanisms underlying biological development and health conditions. She has applied her expertise to analyze lung and mammary gland development, calcium signaling in heart muscles and the movement of cells. Her work with computer vision and image processing can identify microscopic differences between clinical and healthy populations that are often missed with traditional diagnostic methods.

As an AIM-AHEAD leadership fellow, George will develop new algorithms and collaborate with local stakeholders to address health equity gaps.