Building public trust in health through culturally-aligned artificial intelligence

Vohra Miller Lectures in Critical Public Health Issues

Event Description  

Misinformation spread through social media has been responsible for an increasing mistrust of public health, particularly amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Existing analysis tools of social media and other online content rely on logic and science, often ignoring people’s beliefs, cultural backgrounds and feelings when it comes to understanding health information. 

The fifth-annual Vohra Miller Lectures in Critical Public Health Issues aims to foster a dialogue on health equity issues, as it relates to culturally-aligned artificial intelligence (AI) to foster trust in health. 

Panelists Ishtiaque Ahmed, Jude Kong, and Dan Lizotte will share learning outcomes and their perspectives to address topics posed by panelist and moderator, Kate Mulligan.  

Panelists will explore some of the following issues: 

• Why marginalized population voices are not represented amongst current research technologies 
• Using AI to analyze online conversations to discern types of health information different demographics trust and share 
• Understanding how faith, culture, and emotion factor into people’s health activities 

This event will be held both in-person and livestreamed on YouTube. Participants that attend in person are invited to join a meet-and-greet with the panelists after the event.  

Speaker Biographies  

Opening Remarks: 

Adalsteinn Brown 

Professor & Dean, Dalla Lana School of Public Health   

Adalsteinn (Steini) Brown is the Dean of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH) at the University of Toronto. He received his undergraduate degree in government from Harvard University and his doctorate from the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.  

Steini is well known for his expertise in evidence-informed policy making, health-care quality improvement, performance management, leadership and health systems capacity-building and strategy. Prior to serving as Dean of the DLSPH, he was Director of the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and while in this role, he also led numerous complex initiatives with other universities, hospitals, government and international agencies. Steini, along with many of the faculty at DLSPH, have played a critical role in the COVID-19 response, and will remain deeply involved with Ontario’s strategy going forward.  

Host and Moderator:  

Kate Mulligan 

Assistant Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Kate Mulligan is Assistant Professor in Social and Behavioural Health Sciences at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She is a globally-recognized expert in community-led and neighborhood-scale interventions for health and well-being. As the founder and Scientific Director of the Canadian Institute for Social Prescribing, she spearheads impactful research, evaluations, and collaborations that drive healthier, more equitable, and more sustainable health policies and practices. 

Featured Panelists: 

Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed

Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science  

Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto and the founding director of the ‘Third Space'' research group. His research interest is in the intersection between Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Ahmed received his PhD and Masters from Cornell University in the USA, and his Bachelor's and Master’s from BUET in Bangladesh. In the last fifteen years, he studied and developed successful computing technologies with various marginalized communities in Bangladesh, India, Canada, USA, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, and Ecuador. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed research articles and received multiple best paper awards in top computer science venues including CHI, CSCW, ICTD, and FaccT. Ahmed has received numerous honors and accolades, including the International Fulbright Science and Technology Fellowship, the Intel Science and Technology Fellowship, the Fulbright Centennial Fellowship, the Schwartz Reisman Fellowship, the Massey Fellowship, the Connaught Scholarship, Microsoft AI & Society Fellowship, Google Inclusion Research Award, and Facebook Faculty Research Award.  His research has also received generous funding support from all three branches of Canadian tri-council research (NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC), USA’s NSF and NIH, and Bangladesh government’s ICT Ministry. Ahmed has been named the “Future Leader” by the Computing Research Association in 2024.

Jude Kong 

Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Jude Kong is the Director of the Artificial Intelligence and Mathematical Modeling lab (AIMMlab), University of Toronto. Additionally, he is the Director of the Africa-Canada Artificial Intelligence and Data Innovation Consortium and the Global South Artificial Intelligence for Pandemic and Epidemic Preparedness and Response Network. He is also the Regional Node Liaison to the steering committee of the Canadian Black Scientist Network. He obtained his Ph.D. in Mathematics with a certificate in AI from the University of Alberta, his MSc in Engineering Mathematics from the University of Hamburg, Germany, and the University of L'Aquila, Italy. His B.Sc. in Computer Science and Mathematics was acquired at the University of Buea, Cameroon, and his B.Ed.  in Mathematics was earned at University of Yaounde I, Cameroon. He did a 2-years of postdoc at Princeton University. Dr. Kong is an expert in AI, data science, mathematical modeling, and mathematics education. His principal research program focuses on developing and deploying innovative AI, data science, and mathematical methodologies and technologies to resolve complex issues arising from 'real-world' applications in epidemiology, ecology, and data processing.   

Dan Lizotte

Associate Professor, The University of Western Ontario

Dan Lizotte is Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western. His research aims to support health decision-making by developing and applying machine learning and statistical tools to new sources of data including electronic health records and social media to better support patients and health professionals, particularly in public health and primary health care. His methodological research combines machine learning, optimal sequential decision-making, and multiple objective optimization. Dr. Lizotte has been formally teaching AI methods to a diverse set of students for over ten years, and he teaches the Public Health Informatics course for in the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health at Western. Dr. Lizotte is also the Director of the Rotman Institute of Philosophy at Western, and he has a strong interest in intersectionality and other critical social theory and how they should inform the development and deployment of AI tools that support health equity. He is currently working with the Alliance for Healthier Communities to develop tools for research and decision support.