Regina Barzilay, James Collins, and Phil Sharp to lead the MIT Jameel Clinic

“Geniuses” in machine learning and synthetic and computational biology team up with Nobel-prize winner to co-lead the MIT Jameel Clinic, a new research centre dedicated to revolutionising disease prevention, detection and treatment.

Regina Barzilay and James Collins have been named the inaugural faculty co-leads of the Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health, or MIT Jameel Clinic, effective immediately, announced Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and chair of MIT Jameel Clinic. Institute Professor Philip Sharp will also serve as the chair of MIT Jameel Clinic’s advisory board.

Launched on September 17, 2018, MIT Jameel Clinic is the fourth major collaborative between MIT and Community Jameel, the social enterprise organisation founded and chaired by Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel. A key part of the MIT Quest for Intelligence, MIT Jameel Clinic will focus on developing machine learning technologies to revolutionise the prevention, detection and treatment of disease. It will concentrate on creating and commercialising high-precision, affordable and scalable machine learning technologies in areas of health care ranging from diagnostics to pharmaceuticals.

“MIT Jameel Clinic will make a difference in patients’ lives everywhere from major hospitals to villages in the developing world. It will draw on MIT’s longstanding strengths in biomedical fields, on our decades of collaboration with the concentration of world-class teaching hospitals in Boston and on our proximity to the world’s major biotech companies in Kendall Square,” says Chandrakasan.  

Barzilay is the Delta Electronics Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and an investigator at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). She also co-directs a Machine Learning for Pharmaceutical Discovery and Synthesis Consortium that aims to develop artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms for automation of drug design. Barzilay is a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the National Science Foundation CAREER award, the MIT Technology Review TR35 Award and a Microsoft Faculty Fellowship.

"Today almost every aspect of our life is driven by machine learning predictions -- be it travel, banking or entertainment. The only area where we do not benefit from this powerful technology is the one which impacts us the most, our healthcare,” says Barzilay. “The goal of the centre is to change it. We aim to bring the best of AI technology we develop in our labs at MIT to hospitals and clinics in the US and around the world.”

وقال جيمس جي كولينز في تعليق له بهذه المناسبة: "يُعتبر التعلم الآلي التكنولوجيا الأبرز خلال العقد الحالي، رغم أن تأثيرها على الرعاية الصحية ما يزال حتى الآن متواضعاً. ونعتزم من خلال (J-Clinic) إلى تأهيل الجيل القادم من العلماء المهندسين لتولي العمل في التعلم الآلي والطب الحيوي، بما يتيح لنا تطوير تقنيات مبتكرة قائمة على التعلم الآلي، يمكن استخدامها لتحسين حياة المرضى حول العالم. ويشرفني أن تتاح لي فرصة العمل مع ريجينا، وفيليب، وآنانثا على هذا المشروع النوعي الجديد".

"Machine learning is the defining technology of this decade, though its impact on health care thus far has been meagre. Through MIT Jameel Clinic, we plan to train the next generation of scientists and engineers at the interface of machine learning and biomedicine, so as to enable the development of innovative AI-based technologies that can be used to improve lives of patients around the world,” says Collins. “I am honoured to have the opportunity to work with Regina, Phil and Anantha on this exciting new venture.”

وقال شاندراكاسان: "تأتي عيادة عبداللطيف جميل لتقنيات التعلم الآلي (ML) في مجال الرعاية الصحية (J-Clinic) كجهد عالمي متعدد الأوجه، وسيقدم الفريق القيادي المتميز للعالم الكثير من الحلول النوعية الجديدة في مجال الرعاية الصحية".

"The MIT Jameel Clinic is an exciting opportunity for MIT scientists to bring machine learning to healthcare. I look forward to chairing its advisory group to accelerate its growth and impact,” says Sharp.

"MIT Jameel Clinic efforts will be global and multifaceted," says Chandrakasan. "MIT Jameel Clinic's remarkable leadership team will bring the world many exciting new healthcare solutions," he says.