Our Team
Meet the people behind the scenes who make it all happen
Aaron Lee
C. Dan and Irene Hunter Endowed Professorship
Associate Professor in Ophthalmology
Department of Ophthalmology
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Aaron Lee is the overall principal investigator for the AI-READI project and the co-lead for the Standards module.
Adrienne Baer
PhD Student
Management Science & Engineering - Center for Work, Technology, and Organization
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
I am a scholar of organizations and social change. As a researcher on the Teaming module, I use qualitative and quantitative methods to explore how our larger AI-READI team coordinates and collaborates in pursuit of technological and societal advancement.
Anna Heinke
Research Fellow
AI-READI intern
Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
I am an ophthalmologist currently working as a Research Fellow in Vitreoretinal Diseases at UC San Diego. As an AI-READI intern, I have a special interest in the clinical applications of AI and machine learning, particularly in the fields of ophthalmology and retinal imaging analysis.
Aydan Gasimova (she/her)
Web Developer
FAIR Data Innovations Hub
California Medical Innovations Institute
San Diego, CA
I'm Web Developer with practical experience developing dynamic front-end web applications. I am elated to build tools that will help researchers and clinicians better use data.
Benjamin Cordier
Senior Computational Biologist
Knight Cancer Institute
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR
I'm a computational scientist experienced in algorithm design, model development, and interactive data visualization. As part of AI-READI, I'll be building tools to enable the harmonization, comprehension, and reuse of data by researchers.
Bhavesh Patel (he/him)
Associate Research Professor
FAIR Data Innovations Hub
California Medical Innovations Institute
San Diego, CA
I am an M-PI for the Tools module, leading the development of fairhub.io through my expertise in FAIR data practices and development of research software.
Bradley Voytek
University of California, San Diego
Cognitive Science and Data Science
UC San Diego
San Diego, CA
I'm a Professor of Cognitive Science and the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at UC San Diego, where my lab takes a data science approach to cognitive neuroscience: leveraging many, large, heterogeneous neural datasets to understand the physiology of human cognition. For AI-READI, I develop and run education and training modules in data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
Brittany York
Project Manager
Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
Brittany York is a Project Manager for the ETAI module. She joined UC San Diego in 2011 working on federally funded research projects related to physical activity, sedentary behavior, and chronic disease prevention.
Camille Nebeker
Professor
School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
I co-founded and direct UC San Diego ReCODE Health Center, which provides education and consultation services to guide consideration of the ethical, legal, and social implications of digital/AI health research. For AI-READI, our Ethical and Trustworthy AI team will foster awareness of ethical and responsible practices (e.g., risk assessment, informed consent, return of results) across all modules.
Cecilia Lee
Klorfine Family Endowed Chair Director of Clinical Research
Associate Professor
Department of Ophthalmology
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
I serve as the Program Director of the overall AI-READI project and the Site PI of the University of Washington clinical site for the Data Module. My interests include 'Big Data' research involving electronic medical records and non-invasive imaging datasets in the retina. I am passionate about leveraging large datasets and next-generation computational approaches to better understand deep connections between the eyes and other critical systemic diseases.
Charles Enyaah Amankwa (he/him)
Research Scientist
AI-READI intern
North Texas Eye Research Institute
University of North Texas Health Science Center
Fort Worth, TX
I am a glaucoma research scientist and an intern at the AI-READI program, focussed on leveraging AI and machine learning to improve OCT image quality. My role involves employing deep learning techniques to evaluate image quality for the AI-READI Project.
Christopher Chute
Professor and CRIO
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Dr. Chute is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Health Informatics, Professor of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing at Johns Hopkins University, and Chief Research Information Officer for Johns Hopkins Medicine. His current research focuses on translating basic science information to clinical practice, how we classify dysfunctional phenotypes (disease), and the harmonization and rendering of real-world clinical data including electronic health records to support data inferencing.
Colleen Cuddy (she/her/hers)
Director, Research and Academic Collaboration
Lane Medical Library
Stanford University School of Medicine
Redwood City, CA
I am an organizational development and change scholar and team science specialist focused on creating effective interdisciplinary and interprofessional teams. I am working as a researcher on the Teaming Module.
Cynthia Owsley
Nathan E. Miles Endowed Chair of Ophthalmology
Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL
I am MPI on the Data Acquisition Module since I have a great deal of experience in recruiting, enrolling, and supervising large sample studies of adults using detailed protocols, including variables such as vision, cognition and retinal imaging.
Dawn Matthies
Project Manager
Dept. of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL
I serve as the project manager for the Data Acquisition module, responsible for coordinating communication between our three data sites and supporting the development of the protocol, its implementation, and data collection.
Debra Mathews
Associate Professor
Berman Institute of Bioethics, Dept of Genetic Medicine
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
I'm a human geneticist by training, but all of my work is on ethical and policy issues raised by emerging technologies, including genetics, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, synthetic biology, and AI, including through work with the ETAI module of AI-READI.
Dorian Portillo (they/them)
Web Developer
FAIR Data Innovations Hub
California Medical Innovations Institute
San Bernardino, CA
I am a web developer who adapts to the needs and pacing of a team to create efficient and performant web apps. I believe in technology as a means to help society so I am excited to be a part of the AI-READI project.
Erik Benton
Research Engineer, Sr
Oregon Clinical & Translational Research Institue
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR
A curious, thoughtful engineer and technical leader providing guidance and support for the fairhub.io and tools projects.
Fritz Gerald Kalaw
Visiting Assistant Project Scientist
Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
I am an ophthalmologist currently serving as a Research Fellow in Vitreoretinal Diseases and Ophthalmology Informatics and Data Science. I am interested in providing retinal imaging data and leveraging available data.
Gerald McGwin
Professor
Department of Epidemiology
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL
I am an epidemiologist and biostatistician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and lead the data module in collaboration with Dr. Cynthia Owsley.
Hadi Khazaei
Visiting Professor
Research Scholar
Orbit & Facial Reconstructive Surgery
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR
Active researcher and visiting professor in orbital inflammatory disorders department (OHSU). Integration imaging and analysis using DML including lacrimal tear proteomics and POCUS( point of care ultrasonic imaging).
Julia Owen
Program Manager
Department of Opthalmology
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
I am the overall Program Manager for the AI-READI project, as well as a Project Manager on the Standards module.
Katie Crist
Assistant Project Scientist
Urban Studies & Planning Department
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
Dr. Crist's research is focused on how behavioral and built environment interventions impact physical activity and health. She brings her experience using wearable technologies to monitor behaviors and environmental exposures to the ETAI module.
Kyongmi Simpkins
Research Associate
AI-READI intern
Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
I am a molecular neuroscientist by training. My interests are in the application of data science, machine learning, and AI to expand knowledge associated with imaging analysis and genomic sequencing data analysis.
Linda Zangwill
Richard K. Lansche and Tatiana A. Lansche Endowed Chair
Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology
University of California, San Diego
United States
I am a Professor at the Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology at UCSD conducting clinical and computational research focusing on glaucoma. I am co-PI with Dr. Sally Baxter on the Skills and Workforce Development Module and am also site PI (with Dr. Sally Baxter as co-PI) on the Data module.
Lingling Huang (She/her)
Assistant Professor
Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
I am a uveitis specialist at UC San Diego. I am one of the interns in the AI-READI program, who is interested in using AI to advance medicine and improve patient care.
Michael Snyder
Professor and Chair
Genetics
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Our laboratory is an expert in big data (omics and wearables) and has invented omics technologies (E.g. RNA-Seq, ChIP-Chip (now Chip-Seq), NGS Paired-End sequencing). I participate in the teaming module.
Missy Takahashi
Lab Manager
Ophthalmology
University of Washington
Bellevue, WA
I am the research lab manager at the University of Washington for Drs. Aaron and Cecilia Lee, who were awarded the AI-READI grant. I am working with the data module on study start-up as well as providing other administrative and logistical support.
Nicole Ehrhardt
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dept. of Medicine/ Division Endocrinology
Diabetes Institute University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Dr Ehrhardt is an adult Endocrinologist at the University of Washington Diabetes Institute. Her research is focused on the use of real-time continuous glucose monitoring
Prachee Jain (she/her)
Post Doctoral Researcher
Internal Medicine
Stanford School of Medicine
Stanford, CA
I am an ethnographer and a researcher of work, technology and organizations. As a researcher on the Teaming module, I am responsible for applying and advancing team science to enable collaboration between interdisciplinary teams to acheive their goals.
Qilu Yu
Biostatistician
Office of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
Bethesda, MD
I am the lead biostatistician at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, NIH, working as a project scientist for the AI-READI project.
Sally Baxter
Assistant Professor
Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology and Shiley Eye Institute
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
I'm an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Biomedical Informatics at UCSD, and for this project, I am serving as the Module PI for the Skills and Workforce Development Module and the Co-Site PI for the Data Acquisition Module at UCSD.
Samm Hurst (she/her/hers)
Clinical Professor
Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
I am a medical anthropologist and public health scientist at UC San Diego. For this project, I serve as an MPI on the ETAI module. I am also a member of the Skills and Workforce and PEDP modules. In addition, I lead and coordinate the AI-READI Advisory Council for the project as a whole.
Sanjay Soundarajan (he/him)
Front End Developer
FAIR Data Innovations Hub
California Medical Innovations Institute
San Diego, CA
I am a front-end developer with experience in building web applications and data visualization tools. I am excited to be a part of the Tools module and help build tools that will help researchers and clinicians better understand and use data.
Sara Singer
Professor
Medicine and Organizational Behavior
Stanford University School of Medicine and Graduate School of Business
Stanford, CA
Principal Investigator for the AI-READI Teaming Module, more generally I study teams and organizations to understand how leaders and policymakers can improve the safety, quality, equity of health and health care delivery through changes in institutional culture, leadership, organization design, and team dynamics.
Shahin Hallaj
Ophthalmology Informatics and Data Sciences Fellow
Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
I am a pre-residency intern with a special interest in the clinical applications of AI, data sciences, and novel computational approaches.
Shannon McWeeney
Professor and Chief Data Officer
Knight Cancer Institute
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR
M-PI of the Tools Module focused on data equity, accessibility, and patient engagement.
Stephanie Hong (she/her)
Senior Healthcare Informatics Analyst
General Internal Medicine/ Bioinformatics and Data Science
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD
I participate in standards module. My work focuses on data harmonization and rendering of real-world clinical data to support data validation and data inferencing.
T. Y. Alvin Liu
Director of the Wilmer Precision Ophthalmology Center of Excellence
Wilmer Eye Institute
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD
Contact PI for the ETAI Module
Victoria Patronilo
Program Coordinator
Ophthalmology
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
I am helping coordinate the AI-READI internship program with the skills and workforce development module.
Virginia de Sa
Professor
Cognitive Science and Halicioglu Data Science Institute
University of California, San Diego
San Diego, CA
I'm a Professor in Cognitive Science, and Associate Director of the Halicioglu Data Science Institute at UC San Diego studying vision and learning in humans and machines as well as brain-computer interfaces. For this project, I am developing machine learning training.
Wei-Chun Lin
Informatician 3
Casey Eye Institute
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland, OR
I am a data scientist experienced in ML model development and application. I will be working on creating tools for image quality assessment based on image quality index and CNN models.
Zainab Garba-Sani
Harkness Fellow in Health Policy and Practice
Medicine
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
I'm a Commonwealth Fund UK Harkness Fellow in Health Policy and Practice working at the intersection between public perception, AI, and racio-ethnic health equity. As such, there are areas of overlap with the AI-READI PEDP module.