Abstract
Funds are requested to support Advancing Eye Health through Data Science and Artificial
Intelligence Symposium to be held September 27, 2024, in the Starr Center for Scientific
Communications at the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass. Eye and Ear (MEE). The
meeting is co-organized by Dr. Lucia Sobrin, Professor of Ophthalmology and Associate Chief
for Clinical Data Science, Harvard Department of Ophthalmology and Dr. Tobias Elze,
Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and co-director of the MEE Clinical Data Science
Institute. This will be an inaugural meeting. Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) studies
in vision research are growing exponentially and have great promise for generating discoveries
that can be translated to clinical care. As AI increasingly enters the clinical realm, it will be
important that its integration to care is done in an ethical and robust way. Therefore, the
proposed symposium is a timely and important meeting. The goal of this symposium is to bring
together international experts who offer novel data and stimulate discussion about how to
leverage AI and Big Data to improve eye health. In addition, given the importance of Data
Science and AI will continue to increase over time, another goal of the symposium is to engage
trainees and young investigators in the field so that they are able to carry on the work in the
future. We estimate this meeting will attract close to 250 attendees, consisting of senior and
junior scientists, graduate trainees, postdoctoral fellows, and biotechnology/pharmaceutical
representatives. Topics to be covered include the application of AI and Big Data for diabetic
retinopathy detection, glaucoma progression and identification of systemic disease with
ophthalmic data. Funds are requested to support the trainee attendance and provide 10 trainees
with travel awards to cover their airfare and accommodations. This meeting is distinct from other
meetings focused on AI/Data Science in its in-person format, with half of the scheduled time for
discussion and multiple opportunities for unstructured interaction between trainees, younger
investigators and more established investigators at the morning networking break, lunchtime
poster session, and evening reception/dinner.