Development of Multimodal AI Tools to Personalize the Care of Transplant Recipients
Speaker: Associate Professor Mathama Bahat, Toronto General Hospital Research Institute
Date: May 28 2025, Wednesday
Time: 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM SGT
Venue: COM3 Seminar Room 14 (#01-23), 11 Research Link, Singapore 119391
Please register for the seminar here.
Abstract:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools have been increasingly applied to clinical questions in transplant medicine in recent years. As we continue to push the limits of transplantation, with the older age and complex comorbidities of candidates, there are many challenges throughout transplant medicine that must be better addressed. Various factors affect liver transplant pathology and outcomes, including sex, ethnicity, genetics, BMI, diabetes, and immunosuppressive regimens. There exist complex, non-linear patterns in laboratory tests that must be considered in conjunction with the complex clinical variables to predict outcome. Additionally, electronic health record data, imaging technologies, histology, and ‘omics data have continued to expand the types of data available. These complex data points, their hidden patterns and interrelationships can be uniquely leveraged with the use of AI tools. Longitudinal changes in these variables are also being examined to provide a continuous reassessment of risk along the timeline. Applications of AI in transplant medicine include waitlist prioritization, donor-recipient matching, and short-term/long-term outcome prediction. In this talk, I will go over these considerations with respect to application of AI in transplant medicine. I will additionally discuss integration of ‘omics data, as well as perspectives regarding clinical deployment of AI tools.
Biography:
Associate Professor Mamatha Bhat is a Hepatologist and Clinician-Scientist at the University Health Network’s Ajmera Transplant Centre and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Assoc Prof. Bhat completed her medical school and residency training at McGill University. She then completed a Transplant Hepatology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, followed by a CIHR Fellowship for Health Professionals, through which she completed a PhD in Medical Biophysics.
The goal of Assoc Prof. Bhat’s research program is to improve long-term outcomes of liver transplantation by developing tools of Artificial Intelligence integrating clinical and ‘omics data, and has been funded by CIHR, Terry Fox research institute, Canadian Liver Foundation, American society of Transplant among others. She has published over 165 papers in journals such as Lancet Digital Health, Journal of Hepatology, JAMA Surgery, Gut and Hepatology. Assoc Prof. Bhat has been the recipient of recognitions such as the 2022 CASL Research Excellence award and the 2021 American Society of Transplantation Basic Science Career Development Award. Assoc Prof. Bhat is also Director of the Clinician-scientist training program in the Dept of Medicine at U of T, Partnership & Engagement Lead for the Temerty Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM), and past Chair of the International Liver Transplant Society Basic and Translational Science Research committee.
