A targeted donation to expand the frontiers of AI research

This article is adapted from the fifth edition of the Foundation’s magazine.

Our relationship to AI has profoundly changed over the past decade. The emergence of a plethora of tech tools has radically altered what we consider to be possible. In the healthcare sector, AI has the potential to accelerate the pace of discoveries and transform our understanding of diseases. Making research in AI a priority will enable our society to become leaders in innovation and elevate the quality of care dispensed. 

However, health sciences must study the potential impact of AI with rigour and moral integrity. How can we develop cardiovascular health tools in an ethical and responsible way? What types of solutions will these tools offer? 

Thanks to a major donation from Étienne Veilleux and his spouse, Maria Lorenzo, the MHI is mobilizing researchers who are propelled by a bold, innovative vision to implement a one-of-a-kind project: the AI Research Chair. Read on to find out more about these two donors whose targeted donation will enable researcher Dr. Julie Hussin and her team to implement bioinformatics systems designed to better understand cardiovascular health.

As an entrepreneur and investor who has made his mark on the international stage, Étienne is fascinated by the potential of new technologies. In fact, he recently launched a wealth management company that uses AI to empower financial advisors. Moreover, he and Maria are very involved in philanthropic causes related to youth, healthcare, and social justice. 

Several members of Étienne’s family (his grandparents, his father, and his brother) have had to deal with cardiovascular health issues over the past few years. It was a visit to the MHI that sparked in him a strong desire to become involved. "I was fascinated by the technology, how 3-D imaging was used and the role of research. The experts at the MHI have an exceptional scientific vision and an outstanding ability to innovate. It often seems that research centres are the last to embrace new technologies. But at the MHI, there is a genuine willingness to be at the forefront and to become a pioneer in the field. They have the courage to envision ways of utilizing AI to improve care. I was struck by their philosophy because it’s one that I also share," he said.

Dr. Julie Hussin has a PhD in bioinformatics and has been an associate professor in the department of Medicine at the Université de Montréal since 2016. She is slated to lead the AI Research Chair that will provide funding for researchers specializing in bioinformatics and personalized medicine. Dr. Hussin’s lab uses biological data and computational methods to study the basic processes that influence cardiovascular health.

Dr. Hussin has an impressive academic background in both computer science and biochemistry. "Every individual is unique," she said. "But our current healthcare system only considers one-size-fits-all preventive and therapeutic solutions. Faced with the limits of this approach, we are now aiming to develop solutions that are more targeted and more personalized—solutions that focus on precision medicine. AI allows us to benefit from technologies that, when applied to scientific fields, empower us to achieve greater precision in prevention, diagnoses, and treatments. In other words, we are attempting to build automated learning tools that could process data in a systematic way to guide us in the development of new solutions."

Since the rise of AI, myriad fields have carried out research projects and experiments to explore ways of integrating this technology into their practices, be it in terms of communication sciences or robotics. According to Dr. Hussin, however, integrating AI into natural and medical sciences comes with its lot of challenges. "Employing AI in biology and the healthcare sector is not as easy as employing it in human-created systems. Using AI to process texts or images is vastly different than using it for matters related to natural phenomena. If we want to incorporate AI into the healthcare sector, we need to mobilize researchers to build a comprehensive vision and approaches that address the intricacies of the human body."

To avoid biases and develop AI tools in an ethical and responsible way, Dr. Hussin and her team want to create methodologies inspired by current medical data to extract potential models. "We base our models on the data itself. This is very different from imposing a preconceived vision on the data or letting the data generate new hypotheses to explore. For instance, we came to the conclusion that a lot of our data comes from men of European descent and that we are lacking information about the cardiovascular health of women. With that in mind, we can develop computational methods to compensate for this bias in the algorithm by adjusting data representation. The data we have also demonstrates that genetic variations closely correlate with the ethnicity of subjects and plays a role in their risk of developing heart disease. Because ethnic minorities are also underrepresented in our data, we are attempting to restore a balance to develop solutions tailored to these groups," said Dr. Hussin.

Étienne decided to provide the Foundation with the means necessary to create the AI Research Chair after a visit to the MHI. His objective is to support research and find solutions at a quicker pace. "I want to help accelerate research, propel it forward, make it more efficient, and help it enact concrete applications. New technologies will usher in many changes. That’s a very motivating thought. Maria and I wanted to become involved with the cause because we profoundly believe it will benefit society as a whole. The more that high-net-worth individuals like us invest in our community, the more people’s standard of living will improve. That’s the ultimate goal," he said.

Dr. Hussin also believes in the importance of financial support for research. "The long-term future of our projects is often threatened. Because we operate in a publicly funded sector, we continuously depend on government funds. We often start projects that can’t be completed due to a lack of funding. It’s important to see things through to the end, and in projects as innovative as the ones involving AI— projects whose potential benefits are immense—maintaining momentum is the key."

Major philanthropists who support these kinds of advances provide researchers with the opportunity to develop a long-term vision. They also enable teams to establish solid infrastructure and recruit skilled, full-time employees. "This is precious, and it changes everything. This kind of support also means we can plan for the next several years, knowing we can innovate and venture off the beaten path without encountering short-term productivity challenges. Our work is a long-term process and entails trial and error. That’s how we can move forward. The Chair will provide us with the opportunity to carefully assess the still-unknown and enormous potential of AI," said Ms. Hussin.

If Julie’s heart could speak, here’s what it would say:

"There is a unique connection between innovation and being human. Behind every algorithm is a profound desire to understand and treat vulnerable hearts. To strengthen the ties between technology and life to ensure that each patient can access efficient, equitable care."