Rebecca Jackson, MD began the meeting by previewing the day’s festivities and by describing the work the Center for Clinical and Translation Science does. The Ohio State Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) was originally funded in 2008. At that time the meeting’s focus was on new opportunities for collaborative team science research that could transform clinical and translational science.

Dr. Jackson spoke on the need for the university as a whole to leverage big data using tools of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). Dr. Jackson spoke on the purpose of the CCTS as it relates to moving clinical science forward: the CCTS is to be the engine that catalysts research with the end goal of improving population health. The CCTS accomplishes this by focusing on three main areas: training and cultivating a translational science workforce, enhancing scientific innovation and innovating research processes (quality, ethics and efficiency) and methods. Resources at the CCTS support research done by faculty through the use of vouchers, help with study design, recruitment/retention services to maintain numbers of study participants and career development for investigators.

Biomedical sciences work generates vast amounts of data, how can we analyze, use and study that data to advance translational research? The goal is to generate knowledge from that big data, using deep learning, AI and ML.

The CCTS approach to enhancing the application of AI and ML to advance translational science is four-fold:

1. Convene: Provide the opportunity for researchers to come together to discuss work being done, CCTS does this through workshops, trainings, and events/meetings about AI/ML
2. Connect: Provide the opportunity for connections to be made between researchers, clinicians, graduate students and pediatric/private partners.
3. Catalyze: Provide resources for researchers to pursue work in AI and ML research.
4. Enable. Provide resources for researchers to pursue good work through expertise discovery, the use of AI toolkits and increasing access to high quality datasets.

You can learn more about Dr. Jackson's research here.

Dr. Schultebraucks is a data science researcher from the Data Science Institute at Columbia University. Dr. Schultebraucks applies machine learning to capture the high-dimensionality of candidate predictive models for clinical outcomes. Dr. Schultebraucks’ research focuses on machine learning and its impact on trauma and PTSD.

You can learn more about Dr. Schultebraucks' research here.

Melissa Goldstein, JD, is an Associate Professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. She spoke on ethics issues raised by AI.

You can learn more about Dr. Goldstein's research background here.

Douglas Danforth, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the OSU Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Danforth’s talk is about Natural Language Dialogue Systems using AI and ML.

Learn more about Dr. Danforth's research background here.

Sema Candemir, PHD is research scientist in the Ohio State Department of Radiology. Her research is on automatic detection and classification of diseases in medical image analysis.

Learn more about Dr. Candemir's research background here.

Jennifer Hefner, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Management and Policy at The Ohio State University. Xianlong Zeng, MS is a PhD candidate at The Ohio State University. Deborah Lin, PhD, is an IT Project Scientist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Their team’s research is on using a deep learning model for pediatric patient risk stratification.

Learn more about Dr. Hefner's research background here.

The keynote talk for the 2019 Annual Scientific meeting was delivered by Dr. Christopher Austin, MD, who is Director of the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS). Dr. Austin’s talk focused generally on the need to catalyze innovation in translational and clinical science research.

Learn more about Dr. Austin’s background here.

Shimul Chowdhury, PHD, FACMG, CGMB is a clinical laboratory director at Rady Children’s Institute of Genomic Medicine. His research focuses on rapid whole genome sequencing using automated phenotyping variant prioritization.

Read more about Dr. Chowdhury’s research here.

Dr. Azar is the author of more than 400 scientific articles and book chapters. He is the editor of 14 books in ophthalmology and holds 15 patents. He has been named one of The Best Doctors in America or recognized among Castle Connolly’s Regional Top Doctors in America annually since 1994. He serves as a trustee for the Chicago Ophthalmological Society and for the Association of Research and Vision in Ophthalmology. Dr. Azar has received multiple leadership awards, including the 2009 Lans Distinguished Award and the University of Illinois at Chicago Scholar Award.

Read more about Dr. Azar's research here.