Keynote Speaker

🎤 Keynote Speaker

Dr. Jeff Leek

Jeff Leek, Ph.D.

Title & Affiliation
Vice President and Chief Data Officer Fred Hutch

Professor, Biostatistics Program Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutch

Member Translational Data Science Integrated Research Center (TDS IRC), Fred Hutch

J. Orin Edson Foundation Endowed Chair Fred Hutch

📍 Talk Title: “Building an oncology AI engine at the Fred Hutch and beyond”

🔬 About the Speaker

Dr. Jeff is a distinguished biostatistician known for his engaging style and ability to reach a diverse audience. Currently serving as Vice President and Chief Data Officer at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, he received the COPSS Presidents’ Award in 2021. Jeff Leek is also renowned for his online educational efforts and his advocacy for developing a Comprehensive Resource for the Study of Human Gene Expression using Machine Learning and Data Science.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are having a transformative impact across industries; but real impact in the biomedical sciences and other regulated industries has been slower. In this talk, I will discuss the challenges and opportunities in each component of an AI system in biomedicine – the data, the models, the interfaces, and the people and discuss our efforts at the Fred Hutch to build an “artificial intelligence engine” that connects the most up to date clinical information with collaborative groups of AI researchers and oncologists to drive practical AI impact. I will also discuss our efforts to extend this model nationally with the Cancer AI Alliance (CAIA). I will discuss how and why I believe biostatisticians, working with diverse other technologists, medical scientists, and ethical and legal experts, can have a major impact on biomedicine for the next decade.

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