The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionise how healthcare providers diagnose, treat, and prevent medical conditions will take centre stage at Aston University’s inaugural lecture of the 2024–25 academic year. The event, scheduled for Wednesday 23rd October 2024 at 6pm, will feature Professor Maia Angelova, an expert in artificial intelligence in health at the Sir Peter Rigby Digital Futures Institute.
During this public lecture, Professor Angelova will explore how AI-driven models and algorithms – using machine learning, mathematical modelling, and advanced data analytics – can incorporate an individual’s unique health profile, genetic variability, physiological functions, lifestyle, and environment. These innovative tools are capable of detecting patterns in data that can help predict diseases and treatment outcomes, positioning the patient at the centre of healthcare decision-making.
“Think about the benefits to our health if treatments were tailored around the individual’s health, genes, and habits,” said Professor Angelova. “Precision healthcare is an emerging approach that considers variability in an individual’s overall health, genes, lifestyle, and environment. This can increase treatment efficiency while reducing costs to healthcare systems, leveraging new technologies that collect data on a personal level.”
Professor Angelova will illustrate her points by drawing from her own research in areas such as sleep and insomnia, diabetes, back pain, and decision-making. She will discuss how knowledge from diverse fields can be integrated to transform AI models into trustworthy and explainable tools that support the medical profession.
Additionally, she will address the importance of multidisciplinary and ethical approaches when applying AI to healthcare, highlighting the role of collaboration across scientific disciplines.
Professor Angelova, a renowned data scientist and applied mathematician, has made significant contributions to AI in health. Before joining Aston University, she was a professor of data analytics and machine learning at Deakin University, Australia, and one of the founding directors of the Data to Intelligence Research Centre. She is a fellow of the Institute of Physics and a member of numerous professional societies, including the London Mathematical Society and the Society of Mathematical Biology.
The lecture is free and open to the public, both in person and online, but advance booking via Eventbrite is required. The in-person event will take place in the Susan Cadbury Lecture Theatre at Aston Business School. Tea and coffee will be served from 6pm, with a wine reception following the lecture from 7:30–8pm.
