Episode 5: Beyond the Algorithm - Making Healthcare Data AI Ready
In this episode of AMIA Unpacked, host Karmen Williams, DrPH, MBA, MSPH, MA, CPH, welcomes Cecilia Lee, MD, MS, a clinician scientist and retina specialist at Washington University in St. Louis, for a conversation about the National Institutes of Health's Bridge2AI initiative and its efforts to advance artificial intelligence in healthcare. Lee shares her journey from clinical epidemiology to AI-driven retinal imaging research and explains how Bridge2AI is developing high-quality, accessible datasets to support future discoveries. The conversation explores what it takes to make healthcare data truly AI-ready, including data quality, standardization, patient privacy, ethical considerations and representation across diverse populations. Lee also highlights the AI-Ready diabetes project, which aims to recruit 4,000 participants, and discusses the initiative's next phase, focused on validating AI tools, translating research into real-world applications and expanding access to these resources across the scientific community.
This episode is sponsored by Oracle Health & Life Sciences.