Highlights

  • Yu Tian is making significant strides in medical AI in pursuit of helping everyone enjoy a quality life through age 100.

  • UCF is the perfect place for his research, with access to computer science experts, a cutting-edge medical college and industry partnerships.

Every day, Yu Tian clocks in to his AI and Imaging in Medicine (AIM) Research Lab at UCF working to change life as we know it.

麻豆精品 S淲e often hear that 麻豆精品 S榳e 麻豆精品 S檙e at a turning point in human history, 麻豆精品 S 麻豆精品 S Tian says, 麻豆精品 S渁nd with AI research in a university setting like this, it 麻豆精品 S檚 true. 麻豆精品 S

This is just one example of AI innovations at UCF. Learn about more at the .

Tian has adapted quickly 麻豆精品 S and gladly 麻豆精品 S to life at UCF since arriving last May to teach computer science. He is now living what he once imagined as the idyllic scenario: talented artificial intelligence (AI) specialists coming from around the world to collaborate with medical experts and launch new projects, pressing each other through formidable challenges and achieving the unachievable.

麻豆精品 S淭he ultimate goal for my team is to extend people 麻豆精品 S檚 lives, significantly, 麻豆精品 S Tian says.

Assembling a Dream Team

Tian 麻豆精品 S檚 ambition has eluded human pursuits for millennia. Even medical AI has barely begun to approach its potential impact 麻豆精品 S especially when compared with other AI applications like chatbots and fintech.

麻豆精品 S淭here are two major limitations with medical AI, 麻豆精品 S Tian says. 麻豆精品 S淥ne is the privacy of data 麻豆精品 S AI requires a lot of data. The other issue holding back progress is collaboration. Computer scientists working on AI typically don 麻豆精品 S檛 know medicine. We need input from doctors and biologists. In that sense, universities are uniquely positioned.”

“Universities bring together computer scientists, physicians and hospitals 麻豆精品 S allowing us to identify clinically meaningful problems, access real-world data responsibly and develop solutions that are grounded in medical practice. 麻豆精品 S

With all of this available to his AIM team, they 麻豆精品 S檝e been building a system that can learn from each patient 麻豆精品 S檚 history, exams, MRIs, CTs and life information. Given the copious amount of data, the AI model would then predict the person 麻豆精品 S檚 future medical trajectory.

For example, a doctor could know the probability of dementia five years before onset. An oncologist could use MRI scans to determine the gene mutation associated with a tumor within seconds rather than performing surgery and then waiting weeks for the results of a genome test.

Diseases would be preventable. Treatment plans would be more effective and less costly. People would be healthier, happier and live longer.

How close are we?

麻豆精品 S淐lose, 麻豆精品 S Tian says. 麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 sometimes hard for me to believe, too. 麻豆精品 S

At the Forefront of AI

As recently as 2020, Tian didn 麻豆精品 S檛 give much thought to topics like longevity or the location of Orlando.

While working to complete his Ph.D., Tian had immersed himself in familiar computer-science objectives at the University of Adelaide in Australia. Day and night, the lab became a replacement for the home he 麻豆精品 S檇 left on the Chinese peninsula of Liaodong. In just three years, he published more than 15 papers.

Yet something was missing: a greater purpose.

麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檝e always wanted to discover a solution to a mystery that has never been solved, 麻豆精品 S he says.

He didn 麻豆精品 S檛 know what that mystery might be until an advisor asked him, 麻豆精品 S淒o you want to work on fun AI video projects, or do you want to really impact lives? 麻豆精品 S

Four people posing for a photo
Left to right: Computer science doctoral students Dannong Wang,
Assistant Professor of Computer Science Yu Tian, Tianxingjian Ding and Abdul Mohaimen Al Radi. (Photo by Antoine Hart)

The conversation grabbed Tian 麻豆精品 S檚 attention. He 麻豆精品 S檇 been reading about groundbreaking AI research in computer vision and medical imaging. Many of the papers came from an institution in the U.S., a place called UCF.

After finishing his Ph.D., Tian came to the U.S. for postdoctoral work at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, digging his attention deeper into not only medical AI, but also into UCF.

麻豆精品 S淚 found out about UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 young medical school with physicians and scientists working together. And then I heard about the hospitals in the Orlando area, including AdventHealth and Orlando Health, and this freedom to explore AI applications. I wanted to be in an environment like that, where research can advance quickly. 麻豆精品 S

Tian fast-tracked his postdoctoral role so he could accept a position at UCF, participate in the collaboration, and continue his pursuit of the unsolved mystery: extend life. Shortly after he arrived, the Institute of Artificial Intelligence (IAI) opened its doors 麻豆精品 S and Tian went on to establish his lab, taking a significant step toward his long-term research goals.

Big Goals Leads to Big Impact

You can sense a profound energy inside AIM.

It 麻豆精品 S檚 a convergence of talent and enthusiasm. In addition to Tian, the institute has recruited two dozen faculty, more than 100 doctoral students and 10 postdocs to imagine and encourage progress. The expertise transcends domains, including computer science, robotics, finance, smart cities and medicine.

麻豆精品 S淲e all have big goals, 麻豆精品 S Tian says.

Less than a year after heading up the AIM Lab, he says, 麻豆精品 S淲e aren 麻豆精品 S檛 far off from deploying AI models in hospitals to help doctors. 麻豆精品 S

Tian works at the same speed as technology (fast), until a certain topic comes up. Family. He looks up and begins to describe his hometown, his mother, and the sight of his dad walking in the door one night with the family 麻豆精品 S檚 first computer.

麻豆精品 S淗e and I were fascinated. We went from trying to install the first software to building our own computers and robots. I could never get enough of it. 麻豆精品 S

Those memories motivate him to work even faster toward his ultimate goal.

麻豆精品 S淚 want to help everyone have a quality life to 100 麻豆精品 S or longer. My family. Me. All of us, 麻豆精品 S he says. 麻豆精品 S淚 love the possibility. I love being here, at this turning point, with the opportunity to make a huge impact. 麻豆精品 S