ISL Director Leads Discussions on Cutting-Edge AI and Aging Research at National Conferences
Dr. Zhe He, Interim Director of the Institute for Successful Longevity (ISL) and Associate Professor in the School of Information, showcased Florida State University’s leadership in health informatics and aging research at two prominent national conferences: the AMIA 2024 Annual Symposium in San Francisco and the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting in Seattle in November 2024.
Advancing LLMs in Healthcare at AMIA 2024
At AMIA 2024, Dr. He led a highly attended pre-symposium workshop on “Empowering Healthcare with Knowledge-Augmented Large Language Models”. The session drew an audience of approximately 180 participants and addressed critical challenges posed by generative LLMs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Meta’s LLaMa 2, including accuracy, bias, and safety concerns in health contexts.
The workshop, a collaboration between AMIA’s Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDDM), and Knowledge Representation and Semantics (KRS) Working Groups, explored cutting-edge techniques such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), contrastive learning, LLM finetuning, and zero-shot/few-shot learning. Presenters include leaders from National Library of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota, University of Florida, and University of Haifa. Attendees engaged in discussions about applying these methods to develop robust tools for medical question answering, diagnostic systems, and patient care applications while addressing issues of explainability and ethical deployment in healthcare.
“Workshops like this are essential to ensure that advanced AI tools are not only innovative but also reliable and ethical,” Dr. He said. “Our discussions underscored the importance of integrating state-of-the-art methods to enhance patient safety and improve health outcomes.”
Award-Winning Research on Alzheimer’s Disease
Dr. He and his research team also presented their award-winning paper, “Assessing the Seasonality of Lab Tests Among Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in OneFlorida Data Trust,” at AMIA 2024. This retrospective study analyzed electronic health records of over 34,000 Alzheimer’s disease patients from OneFlorida Data Trust and revealed notable seasonal variations in lab results, influenced by environmental factors and patient demographics. These findings provide valuable insights for tailoring care for Alzheimer’s patients across different times of the year. This groundbreaking work earned the prestigious AMIA 2024 Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Innovation Award.
AI for Aging Populations at GSA 2024
At the GSA 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting in Seattle, Dr. He delivered a presentation titled “Using Informatics and Generative AI to Support Older Adults’ Understanding of Lab Test Results” as part of the symposium “East Meets West: Application of AI to Support Healthy Aging and Effective Care in Diverse Cultures.”
Dr. He’s presentation focused on leveraging AI tools like generative models to help older adults better understand their lab results, emphasizing the need for tailored, accessible health information. This approach bridges the gap between technology and patient empowerment, particularly for older populations with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Highlighting FSU’s Leadership in Health and Aging Research
Dr. He’s contributions at these prestigious conferences underscore FSU’s leadership in health informatics, aging research, and AI-driven healthcare solutions. His work demonstrates the potential of advanced informatics tools to improve patient care, support healthy aging, and address global health challenges.
“These opportunities to present our research reflect FSU’s commitment to impactful, interdisciplinary work,” Dr. He said. “By fostering collaboration and innovation, we can continue to address the critical health challenges facing older adults and diverse populations.”
For more information about Dr. He’s research and the Institute for Successful Longevity, visit ISL’s website.