SAN ANTONIO – Amina Qutub was introduced to artificial intelligence many years ago when her father worked in a renowned industrial research and scientific development company.
“My father started very, very early on as a pioneer in AI at Bell Labs. And so, in childhood, I really didn’t think of AI as this big, scary creature that people often think of now,” said Qutub, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at UTSA. “And so, it permeated industries, just seemed to come naturally from how I saw its progression. But I think it’s something that when people think about how robotics and computers started to creep into every part of our lives, AI is doing that.”
Qutub was drawn to delve deeper into artificial intelligence.
“I study the brain at the cellular level, the human brain, and I would say AI was trying to mimic how the human brain quickly responds to different tasks and makes decisions,” Qutub said. “And it’s trying to do it in a way which is maybe even better than what the human can do, because it’s able to process hundreds and thousands of more data points at a faster rate than the human can.”
The professor is now part of a new AI-driven project aimed at potentially saving lives.
“It would identify when there is a next emergency what to do best. On the fly, the EMT, the ambulance driver, would have that information right away on their dashboard in their vehicle,” Qutub said.
The project called IREMEDY ACT could improve patient outcomes and help doctors and first responders make faster clinical decisions.
Researchers from UTSA, UT Health San Antonio and UT Tyler are working together to develop and apply AI tools to the field of trauma care.
Qutub said researchers are inputting data related to trauma patients into a system that would figure out what is the best way to respond to someone who is critically hurt.
“We hope we are a pilot that people can use as an exemplar of how AI can make the most of data sets. And so, while we’re building it for Texas, we imagine it will be a model that’s used across the nation and internationally,” Qutub said.
The Trauma Research and Combat Casualty Care Collaborative, an initiative of the University of Texas System, recently awarded researchers a $1 million grant.
Researchers from diverse fields are collaborating on this project, including Qutub, Brian Eastridge, MD, from UT Health San Antonio, and Alan Cook, MD, from UT Tyler.
Other professionals involved include Mark Goldberg, Dhireesha Kudithipudi, Joe Houpt and Chris Rathbone.
The group aims to finish this project within 16 months.
UTSA and UT Health San Antonio debuted the nation’s first combined medicine and AI dual degree program last fall. Find more information here.
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