Event Details

PHO Rounds: A.I. Technologies in Public Health Part 2: Lessons Learned from Developing the AONES Tool

The Automated Opioid News Event-based Surveillance system (AONES) is a tool that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify opioid-related news articles and extract information about the unregulated drug supply from them. It was funded by a one-year Public Health Ontario Locally Driven Collaborative Project grant and developed by a public health unit (PHU) in collaboration with other PHUs and academic partners.

This PHO Rounds explores the lessons learned during its development. The presentation covers the background work of setting up the technical and organizational infrastructure, and considerations for pipeline development and data storage. It focuses on the importance of understanding the data and iterating quickly during development. Finally, it discusses the critical components of data visualization and knowledge exchange, and production. The insights shared during this presentation can support teams in public health settings in their own applied AI projects.

Presenter(s): Allison Maier and Alex Hamilton

Allison Maier has an MPH from Queen’s University. She is a Research Associate at KFL&A Public Health and is the data scientist associated with the Acute Care Enhanced Surveillance (ACES) program. She has over 10 years of experience working in in public health surveillance and program evaluation. Allison is passionate about using data visualization techniques to improve reporting of public health surveillance.

Alex Hamilton is a Research Associate at KFL&A Public Health with experience in Nursing and Biomedical Informatics. He has more than five years of experience building machine learning algorithms for medical applications, including developing models for detecting prostate cancer and atrial fibrillation. At KFL&A Public Health, he leads algorithm development for the Acute Care Enhanced Surveillance (ACES) system and AONES. He is passionate about blending technical and clinical expertise to improve healthcare outcomes and public health innovation.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies or views of Public Health Ontario, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by Public Health Ontario.

Accreditation

Public Health Ontario Rounds are a self-approved group learning activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). In order to receive written documentation for Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits, please check “Yes” beside the question “Do you require CME credits?” on the registration form.

College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) Affiliate Members may count RCPSC credits toward their Mainpro+ credit requirements. All other CFPC members may claim up to 50 Certified credits per cycle for participation in RCPSC MOC Section 1 accredited activities.

PHO Rounds are also approved by the Council of Professional Experience for professional development hours (PDHs) for members of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI).

For more information or for a record of registration for other Continuing Education purposes, please contact capacitybuilding@oahpp.ca.

Accessibility

Public Health Ontario is committed to complying with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). If you require accommodations to participate in this event, please contact 647-260-7100 or capacitybuilding@oahpp.ca.

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Contact

Capacity Building

capacitybuilding@oahpp.ca

Updated 22 Oct 2024