City St George’s researcher wins JMIRS Top Commentary 2024 award • City St George's, University of London

Nikolaos Stogiannos received the honour for a paper on multidisciplinary and multiagency approaches to AI in healthcare

By Mr George Wigmore (Senior Communications Officer), Published Thursday, 20^th February 2025

Mr Nikolaos Stogiannos, an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Midwifery & Radiography at City St George’s, University of London and guest editor of a special issue on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences (JMIRS), has been awarded the prestigious Top Commentary 2024 award for a paper on multidisciplinary and multiagency approaches to AI in healthcare.

The award-winning commentary, titled “A multidisciplinary team and multiagency approach for AI implementation: A commentary for medical imaging and radiotherapy key stakeholders”, explores the essential role of collaboration across different professions, organisations, and stakeholders in effectively integrating AI into clinical practice.

Mr Stogiannos was the lead author and Dr Christina Malamateniou, Reader and Director of the CRRAG group at City St George’s, was also the study's senior author. In addition, a podcast, which is available on Spotify, has been created to honour this award.

Importance of collaboration in AI implementation

AI is transforming healthcare, particularly in medical imaging and radiotherapy, by improving diagnostic accuracy, streamlining workflows, and enabling personalised patient care. However, its successful implementation requires a coordinated approach involving healthcare professionals, policymakers, industry experts, and patients.

As lead author, Mr Stogiannos emphasised this in the paper, stating:

"To ensure a smooth transition into the new digital era and to successfully and safely implement AI in clinical practice, it is imperative to empower and support multidisciplinary teams and foster interprofessional collaboration."

The commentary highlights the need for a structured approach, where AI implementation teams include a diverse mix of professionals, such as radiologists, radiographers, computer scientists, and clinical governance experts, ensuring that AI solutions are safe, effective, and ethically deployed.

Bridging knowledge gaps

One of the key challenges in AI adoption is ensuring that healthcare professionals are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to work with AI-enabled systems. Mr Stogiannos stressed that training and education must be at the forefront of AI integration. He said:

"The different professionals in the new multidisciplinary, interprofessional teams will also need to communicate in a common language, in this case the language of AI terminologies. It is, therefore, imperative for them to be educated on the requirements, potential and risks of these new technologies. It is, furthermore, vital to agree upon a common ethics and governance framework."

The paper also notes that professional bodies, such as the Society and College of Radiographers, the Royal College of Radiologists, and the British Institute of Radiology, play a crucial role in providing education, setting standards, and fostering collaboration across disciplines.

Mr Nikolaos Stogiannos, an Honorary Research Fellow at City St George’s

Putting patients at the centre of AI development

Another significant aspect of the paper is its focus on patient involvement in AI development. The commentary advocates for the inclusion of patient perspectives to ensure that AI-driven healthcare remains patient-centred and accessible.

"Since the deployment of AI is centred on patient experience and outcomes, it is vital to ensure that patients, their caregivers, and the public are equal partners in AI improvement projects and that their involvement is authentic and occurs as early as possible."

By integrating patient feedback and experiences, AI developers can create tools that are more aligned with real-world healthcare needs, improving trust and adoption among both healthcare professionals and the public.

The future of AI in healthcare

The award-winning commentary concludes by outlining a vision for the future of AI in medical imaging and radiotherapy, calling for a collaborative, ethical, and inclusive approach to technology adoption.

"It is only through this collaboration that better clinical AI-enabled tools can be created for the benefit of everyone."

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