City St George’s launch: how can AI contribute to the health of the nation

The panel of experts from across the University’s six schools explored the question of ‘how can AI contribute to the future health of the nation.’

The panel included senior lecturers, professors and health economists and was chaired by medical historian, journalist and academic Mark Honigsbaum.

Opening the event, Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein addressed the audience and emphasised the integrated nature of the merger, highlighting the opportunities that it presented for staff, students and alumni.

Describing the merger, he said the University now educates more than 27,000 students from over 170 countries and is one of the largest higher education destinations for London students.

Professor Enrico Bonadio: AI and property law

Professor Bonadio is a professor of Intellectual Property Law and sits on the management board at the Institute for Creativity and AI at City St George’s. Beginning the panel discussion, he spoke about AI, healthcare and intellectual property.

His research in the field has looked at how intellectual property can be used to promote AI and innovation. He said intellectual property rights, especially patents and trade secrets, promote AI driven healthcare innovations.

“By securing intellectual property rights, companies in this sector can safeguard their investments in developing new AI tools and encourage further innovation in this field,” said Professor Bonadio.

Professor Amanda Goodall: AI and expert leaders

Professor of Leadership and creator of the Executive Masters in Medical Leadership at Bayes Business School, Amanda Goodall, discussed leadership and AI. She said:

“My research shows that we need experts, not generalists, in leadership and management positions and on boards.”

Professor Goodall said a key study she carried out years ago showed the best hospitals in the US were more likely to be led by doctors than general health managers but she said relatively few NHS hospitals in the UK are led by medical doctors. On the topic of AI in healthcare, she said:

Dr Elinor Carmi: AI and society

Dr Carmi, senior lecturer in Data Politics and Social Justice at City St George’s, explored how the public can decide on how they contribute to the future of the nation in relation to AI.

Dr Carmi discussed the Make it Fair campaign, backed by musicians including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Kate Bush, which highlighted the issue of copyright law and AI in the music industry. She said:

“The way that AI is integrated in different kinds of professions is something that we really need to think about. When we’re thinking about the introduction of AI, it’s really important to recognise that people want to be consulted in the design and application of AI and have their values and interests protected through effective regulation and enforcement.”

Professor Caroline Ling Li: AI and sensor technologies

A Professor in Biomedical Engineering at City St George's, Caroline Ling Li is currently researching personalised and predictive health through innovative AI-driven smart sensors. She presented this research at the panel event and said AI has assigned, enabled and enriched the power of healthcare while sensor new data will enable AI in the future.

Professor Chris Owen: AI and predicting disease

Professor of Epidemiology in the Population Health Research Institute at City St George’s, Chris Owen is leading the way on using AI to predict heart disease and diabetes risk from a simple eye scan. He spoke about his team’s work in AI and health, specifically their interest in the effects of disease on the eye and how AI can be used as a replacement to primary graders in diabetic eye screening programmes.

Dr Hyunsun Yoon: AI and older adults

Senior lecturer in strategic communications Dr Hyunsun Yoon presented her research on older adults and digital communications, including how to use GenAI to help dementia carers.

Through a ‘reminiscence app’, Dr Yoon aims to give tools to dementia carers in the country to prompt patients’ memories through screening vintage commercials or old footage of holiday camps in coastal towns. She has worked with charities including the History of Advertising Trust and the Museum of Youth Culture on this project.

Dr Divya Srivastava: AI and health financing

Dr Srivastava leads the AI and Digital Health Lab in the Centre for Healthcare Innovation Research and is a Lecturer in Research Methods in the School of Health and Medical Sciences.

Drawing on her health economics and health policy background, Dr Srivastava spoke about her research on digital technologies including AI involving methods for economic analysis and health financing. Dr Srivastava said:

“AI is borderless. It’s going across countries and a lot of my work involves collaboration. I’ve established an official network of health economists with research interests in digital health technologies, under the umbrella of the International Health Economics Association, where we can come together to identify and develop research activities and teaching curriculum.”

Find out more about the merger.