Rob (Hongbo) Chen, a PhD student with MIE, is the recipient of a prestigious Data Sciences Institute (DSI) Doctoral Student Fellowship. Chen receives this award to support his interdisciplinary training and collaborative research in data sciences to address and drive positive social change.
Rob (Hongbo) Chen, MIE PhD candidate, is the recipient of the DSI Doctoral Student Fellowship this year.
The DSI Fellowship will allow Chen to focus on his research where the primary objective is to optimize patient safety event report classification systems and provide improved patient-centered care. The Fellowship amount of $25,000 per year minimizes financial constraints and offers a wealth of academic and professional development opportunities within data science communities.
“Adverse events attributed to patient safety challenges are the third leading cause of death in the world, resulting in 251,454 deaths annually in the United States alone”, says Chen, whose research aims to synthesize human-centered design principles with artificial intelligence (AI) to improve patient safety.
“The possibility of using AI to create more reliable and user-friendly incident reporting systems is a very real solution to the current challenges healthcare professionals face with complex classification taxonomy and the consequences of misclassified incident reports.”
The interest in the intersection of human-centered design and AI has inspired Chen to explore ways to make a tangible impact on patient safety in healthcare. Guided by his supervisors Dr. Myrtede Alfred and Dr. Eldan Cohen, Chen drove this initial curiosity into his current research focus. Enhancing the classification of patient safety event reports through AI could lead to substantial improvements in clinical outcomes, and the DSI Fellowship further fuels Chen’s commitment to engage in this area of research.
Chen learned of the Fellowship opportunity from Professor Alfred and Professor Cohen who recognized the synergy between his research and the DSI’s emphasis on interdisciplinary research in data sciences. DSI’s commitment to fostering innovation at the confluence of diverse fields inspired Chen to apply, and receiving this award fits strategically with his goals and provides an environment where his work on integrating human-centered design with AI can flourish.
Ultimately, Chen aims to contribute to the Institute’s mission of tackling complex data-driven issues within healthcare and beyond through his research.
-Published on June 4, 2024, by Kendra Hunter
