Highlights

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

  • ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ 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 ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ working to change life as we know it.

β€œWe often hear that β€˜we’re at a turning point in human history,’” Tian says, β€œand with AI research in a university setting like this, it’s true.”

This is just one example of AI innovations at ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½. Learn about more at the .

Tian has adapted quickly β€” and gladly β€” to life at ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½ 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.

β€œThe ultimate goal for my team is to extend people’s lives, significantly,” Tian says.

Assembling a Dream Team

Tian’s ambition has eluded human pursuits for millennia. Even medical AI has barely begun to approach its potential impact β€” especially when compared with other AI applications like chatbots and fintech.

β€œThere are two major limitations with medical AI,” Tian says. β€œOne is the privacy of data β€” AI requires a lot of data. The other issue holding back progress is collaboration. Computer scientists working on AI typically don’t know medicine. We need input from doctors and biologists. In that sense, universities are uniquely positioned.”

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

With all of this available to his AIM team, they’ve been building a system that can learn from each patient’s history, exams, MRIs, CTs and life information. Given the copious amount of data, the AI model would then predict the person’s 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?

β€œClose,” Tian says. β€œIt’s sometimes hard for me to believe, too.”

At the Forefront of AI

As recently as 2020, Tian didn’t 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’d left on the Chinese peninsula of Liaodong. In just three years, he published more than 15 papers.

Yet something was missing: a greater purpose.

β€œI’ve always wanted to discover a solution to a mystery that has never been solved,” he says.

He didn’t know what that mystery might be until an advisor asked him, β€œDo you want to work on fun AI video projects, or do you want to really impact lives?”

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’s attention. He’d 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 ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½.

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 ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½.

β€œI found out about ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½β€™s 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.”

Tian fast-tracked his postdoctoral role so he could accept a position at ΒιΆΉΣ³»­΄«Γ½, 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 β€” 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’s 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.

β€œWe all have big goals,” Tian says.

Less than a year after heading up the AIM Lab, he says, β€œWe aren’t far off from deploying AI models in hospitals to help doctors.”

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’s first computer.

β€œHe 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.”

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

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