By. Alison Gold
Michael Birnbaum speaking at the event, photo taken by Ignacio Fuentes.
Scientists from across MIT gathered Monday December 6 to discuss applications of machine learning and artificial intelligence in the study, detection, and treatment of cancer.
The meeting brought together experts from MIT’s Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health and the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. The event served to develop research partnerships between experts in cancer and artificial intelligence.
Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence which excels in making meaning from tremendous amounts of data. While machine learning does not currently play a major role in the identification or treatment of cancer, many researchers believe it has the potential to transform the field.
At the meeting, Jameel Clinic scientists presented summaries of their research and then enjoyed a networking reception. Speakers shared their work on topics including predicting a patient’s future medical data using their electronic medical record, gathering patient information and experiences to build meaningful, robust, datasets, and identifying and developing new treatments for medical conditions including types of cancer.
This meeting was organized by Matthew Vander Heiden and Regina Barzilay and hosted at the Koch Institute at the Luria Auditorium. Speakers from Jameel Clinic and Koch Institute included Regina Barzilay, Dimitris Bertsimas, Michael Birnbaum, Tommi Jaakola, Amy Keating, Angela Koehler, David Sontag, Caroline Uhler, Matthew Vander Heiden, Jonathan Weismann, Forest White, and Michael Yaffe.
Jameel Clinic scientists develop innovative technologies to aid in drug discovery, care personalization and management, and early diagnostics for a variety of medical conditions