The AI Health Podcast

Dr. Eric Topol is a cardiologist, a professor, a best-selling author and the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute. In this wide-ranging conversation, he explains how medical AI can harness new data sources, draw novel connections and restore the human connection between doctor and patient. He also discusses key challenges facing the field, especially around reproducibility and regulation. Pranav and Adriel first give an overview of precision medicine and provide context for the interview. The interview with Dr. Topol starts at 4:22. If you like what you hear, let a friend know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us on Twitter @AIHealthPodcast.

Connor Landgraf is the CEO and co-founder of Eko, a cardiopulmonary digital health company. He speaks with us about AI for auscultation, the unique challenges of developing hardware as well as software, and the roller-coaster ride of running a start-up. Pranav and Adriel first give an overview on the history of the stethoscope. The interview with Connor starts at 6:35. If you like what you hear, let a friend know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us on Twitter @AIHealthPodcast.

Dr. Emma Pierson is a senior researcher at Microsoft Research and an incoming assistant professor of computer science at Cornell Tech. Her work has been recognized by a Rhodes Scholarship and Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science, and she has written for publications like The New York Times, FiveThirtyEight, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, and Wired. She speaks with us about her research on racial inequities in COVID-19 testing and pain disparities, and she gives advice to aspiring AI researchers. Pranav and Adriel first give an overview on some of Emma's papers that will be discussed in the interview, which starts at 4:12. If you like what you hear, let a friend know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us on Twitter @AIHealthPodcast.

Joelle Pineau is co-Managing Director of Facebook AI Research (FAIR), supporting labs across North America and Europe. She is also a faculty member at Mila and an Associate Professor and William Dawson Scholar at the School of Computer Science at McGill University, where she co-directs the Reasoning and Learning Lab. She speaks with us about FAIR's research into AI and medicine, with special attention to Facebook's COVID-19 projects. Pranav and Adriel first give an overview on computer vision and the history of pretraining and finetuning models in the context of medical imaging. The interview with Dr. Pineau starts at 8:12. If you like what you hear, let a friend know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us on Twitter @AIHealthPodcast.

Dr. Kiersten Stead is a Managing Partner at DCVC Bio, a venture capital fund supporting companies using deep tech within life science industries. She talks with us about opportunities within biomedical AI, especially around making clinical trials more efficient. Pranav and Adriel first give an overview on digital twin technology for the interview, which starts at 7:02. If you like what you hear, let a friend know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us on Twitter @AIHealthPodcast.

Dr. Charles Cadieu is the co-founder and CEO of Caption Health. Previously, he was an expert in deep learning at MIT and Berkeley and was a founding member of IQ Engines, acquired by Yahoo!. In this interview, he explains how Caption Health is using AI to make it easier for clinicians to capture high-quality ultrasound images. He also discusses broader questions of how AI can make medicine more accessible and equitable, and he gives insight into the process of developing a medical AI startup. Pranav and Adriel first give an overview on ultrasounds and provide context for the interview, which starts at 5:44. If you like what you hear, let a friend know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us on Twitter @AIHealthPodcast.

Dr. Adewole "Ade" Adamson is a board-certified dermatologist and assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin. He speaks with us about AI applications in dermatology and addresses challenges around racial bias and overdiagnosis. Pranav and Adriel first talk about the potential for racial disparities in ML systems for dermatology and provide context for the interview, which starts at 5:06. If you like what you hear, let a friend know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us on Twitter @AIHealthPodcast.

Dr. Vijay Pande is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz and an Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University. As the founding investor of a16z’s Bio Fund, he leads the firm’s investments at the cross section of biology and computer science. He speaks with us about drug discovery and other major opportunities for entrepreneurs in the medical AI space. Pranav and Adriel first talk about the protein folding problem and the Folding@Home Distributed Computing Project, and then provide context for the interview, which starts at 6:44. If you like what you hear, let a friend know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us on Twitter @AIHealthPodcast.

Andrew Ng is Founder of DeepLearning.AI, General Partner at AI Fund, Chairman and Co-Founder of Coursera, and an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University. A pioneer in both machine learning and online education, Dr. Ng now focuses primarily on his entrepreneurial ventures, looking for the best ways to accelerate responsible AI practices in the larger global economy. In this wide-ranging interview, he discusses both the specific challenges of developing AI for healthcare and the broader state of AI. Pranav and Adriel first talk about the cost and compute of AI breakthroughs, and then provide context for the interview, which starts at 7:53. If you like what you hear, let a friend know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us on Twitter @AIHealthPodcast.

Our guests today are Dr. Alastair Denniston and Dr. Xiao Liu. Together they discuss their work on SPIRIT-AI and CONSORT-AI, two pioneering sets of guidelines that help researchers conduct and report AI clinical trials in a safe, transparent manner. Dr. Alastair Denniston is a consultant ophthalmologist, an honorary professor at University Hospitals Birmingham and the Centre for Regulatory Science and Innovation at the University of Birmingham. Dr. Xiao Liu is an ophthalmology resident and clinical researcher at the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham. Pranav and Adriel first discuss why clinical trial guidelines are necessary and then provide context for the interview, which starts at 7:20. If you like what you hear, let a friend know, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us on Twitter @AIHealthPodcast.