Purpose of the workshop:

Hosted by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, this interdisciplinary workshop will bring together colleagues at the University of Bristol and colleagues working in the NHS with an interest in AI in health to discuss application of AI in the field of infectious diseases.  Areas to be addressed include but are not limited to: 

• Drug discovery
• Predicting and preventing decline
• Predicting bacterial resistance based on patient data
• Detecting trends within the population
• Identifying TB on CXRs
• Infection control and identifying transmission patterns
• Host-pathogen interactions
• Predicting outbreaks, identifying high-risk areas, and monitoring disease progression;
• Vaccine development by predicting how a virus (or other causative agents) evolve and mutate over time;
• Integrating large data sets for better understanding of infection and immunity;
• Developing personalized prediction models to determine the risk and prognosis of a certain pathogen or the associated complications

Background: 

Infectious Diseases research is one of University of Bristol’s areas of strength including a dedicated Infection and Immunity Research Network that studies the mechanisms that cause and spread disease;  ‘Bristol AMR’, a cross-faculty research network which includes clinical colleagues at Bristol's two NHS Trusts and the UK Health and Security Agency; the Bristol Infectious Disease Dynamics group, an interdisciplinary group of scientists from Social and Community Medicine, Engineering Mathematics, Biological Sciences and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Bristol. Bristol expertise in infectious disease includes modelling, epidemiology, qualitative research, statistics, intervention evaluation, health economics, evidence synthesis and systematic reviews. AI provides an opportunity to transform the field of infectious diseases, but it also requires collaboration with experts, high-quality data, and ethical considerations. 

The aim of this workshop is to reach a wide spectrum of interest in this area; it will be an opportunity for researchers with interest or expertise in infectious diseases to learn about each others’ work; a place for academic researchers and clinicians to share ideas, consider opportunities for addressing some of the infectious diseases challenges with the help of AI and develop collaborations.  

Who is it for:

The workshop is open all colleagues in the University of Bristol with an interest and/or expertise in infectious diseases as well as clinical colleagues in the NHS. We particularly welcome participation of data scientists and experts in Machine Learning or other colleagues whose AI-related skills could be applied to the area of infectious diseases.   

Format:

The interdisciplinary workshop will be held in-person over lunch. Light lunch will be provided and participation is free. To register please complete this short registration form by Thursday 4 April 2024. 

Agenda to be confirmed.  

If you have any queries please contact the event organisers, Jocelyn Egginton and Sarah Eyland @ ebi-events@bristol.ac.uk