August 28, 2024 |
The Binaytara Foundation (BTF) hosted Dr. Anant Madabhushi for this month’s Perspectives in Global Health Lecture Series. Dr. Madabhushi is an outstanding professional on global health and how AI can address global health challenges. Dr. Madabhushi holds faculty appointments in the department of Biomedical engineering in the department of radiology and imaging service and biomedical information, and is currently executive director for the Emory Empathetic AI for Health Institute. He leads the Madabhushi Lab where AI is being developed to improve outcomes for individuals with cancer and other diseases.
In his lecture, Dr. Madabhushi presented how AI can address global health disparities by improving affordability, access, and equity in healthcare. He focused on the issue of overdiagnosis and overtreatment, which often lead to financial burdens in the United States. According to a study published in The American Journal of Medicine, 40% of cancer patients in the US spent their entire life savings within the first two years of treatment.
Dr. Madabhushi also highlighted there are limitations in the current genomic assays, such as Oncotype DX, which help determine if women with early-stage breast cancer should undergo chemotherapy. These tests are expensive, damage tissue during use, and are not equally effective for all populations. AI advancements, he suggested, could provide more accessible and inclusive alternatives.
To address these challenges, Dr. Madabhushi introduced the Image-Based Risk Score (Ibris), an affordable AI-driven tool that uses tissue slides to predict risk and guide treatment across diverse populations. He emphasized the importance of designing unbiased AI algorithms validated through clinical trials and leveraging deep phenotyping, which uses past studies slide data for more accurate predictions. This method has been applied in digital pathology and radiology for seven years, aiding in both cancer care and broader healthcare applications.
Dr. Madabhushi talked about the importance of minimizing global health disparities and making healthcare more affordable. He and BTF are committed to developing low-cost solutions to expand access to effective treatments, particularly in low-income countries. Dr. Madabushi emphasized how this tool is designed to reduce health disparities by providing accessible, precise cancer treatment and other health concerns.
BTF will host similar sessions monthly at its Bellevue office with the option for viewers to attend in person or virtually via Zoom. For more information on attending, please visit our Perspectives in Global Health page. If you are interested in being a speaker, please contact Emma Robinson [email protected]
