Abstract: 

In the field of healthcare, AI can provide solutions as well as be source of bias and therefore inequity. Bias can creep in via algorithmic processes or be inherent in the underlying data. This talk will introduce the audience to challenges in AI for health equity with a particular focus on race and ethnicity data. We will explore real-world ethnicity data collected routinely in healthcare settings in the form of electronic health records. We will examine issues with completeness, correctness, and granularity of these data, implications for healthcare AI, and finally highlight opportunities towards “better data, better models, better healthcare”.

Bio: 

Sara is a Senior Research Associate in Biomedical Data Science and University Research Lecturer at the University of Oxford, where she is the Machine Learning Lead in the Centre for Statistics in Medicine. She has 12 years of experience in machine learning, signal processing, and intelligent remote monitoring research, with applications in biomedical and planetary health informatics. Sara has served on the NASA Frontier Development Lab Artificial Intelligence Panel and the NASA Climate Challenge Big Think. She is a National Geographic Society Explorer in Tracking Plastic Pollution with Remote Monitoring and Machine Learning. Sara is also a University of Oxford Ambassador for Women in Data Science.