Building foundations for AI use in healthcare

Artificial intelligence is becoming a larger part of healthcare, research and education. While AI use expands, there are still many people at NEOMED and our partner organizations who want to use AI well but aren't sure where to start. 

To help address that hesitancy, NEOMED’s Clinical and Translational Research Institute (CTRI) and the UH | NEOMED Center for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Experience (AIDE) teamed up to host an AI Foundations forum in September, giving the community a shared starting point, grounded in real examples from both NEOMED and University Hospitals. Staff from the Ohio Supercomputer Center also participated.

The 100-plus people who attended the in-person-only event left feeling more confident in their ability to apply AI to their work. 86% of those who completed the post-event survey said they are likely or very likely to apply something they learned in their research, teaching or clinical work within the next three months. 71% agreed it was a valuable use of their time, and 77% said they now feel at least moderately confident using AI tools in their work.

People especially valued the practical, everyday examples. As one attendee put it, the event "was very approachable for beginners." 

Key takeaways

• AI is already at work here at NEOMED. Faculty, librarians and students shared how they're using tools like NotebookLM in medical education and AI to support systematic literature reviews, along with honest lessons learned.
• NEOMED’s partnership with University Hospitals gives the University a close look at AI in real clinical settings. UH leaders walked through deploying AI in radiology workflows, how health systems build the ecosystem to support it, and what it takes to co-develop AI tools at an academic medical center.

What's next?

“Attendees told us loud and clear what they want next: more hands-on practice,” said Lyn Haselton, Ph.D., director of operations for CTRI. “Many asked for sessions where they can bring a laptop and work through real tasks with Copilot and agentic AI, use AI in research and data analysis, and learn more about NEOMED's AI policy.”

In addition to the forum, CTRI has begun hosting a quarterly Biostatistics Journal Club. The next one is Friday, Nov. 13.

CTRI is also building a quarterly educational series with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs for staff and students. It will cover AI, biostatistics and the research resources available at NEOMED.