Event Details

A.I. Technologies in Public Health Part 1: Launching the Automated Opioid News Event-based Surveillance (AONES) Tool

The drug-poisoning crisis in Ontario has worsened dramatically since the introduction of fentanyl in 2016 and was only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Surveillance methods are still limited in their ability to detect this ever-evolving crisis, especially novel contamination events. The Automated Opioid News Event-based Surveillance system (AONES) is a tool that operates in near real-time, using artificial intelligence (A.I.) to identify news articles related to opioids and extract data related to the unregulated drug supply. It was developed through a Public Health Ontario Locally Driven Collaborative Project grant. The tool is publicly available from AONES (kflaphi.ca) to aid public health staff and others working in substance use harm reduction. This PHO Rounds will introduce and explain the tool, including providing a demo and a discussion of the opportunities and limitations in using event-based surveillance systems and AI for opioid surveillance.

A second PHO Rounds will present on our use of natural language processing and A.I. based technologies to develop public health tools such as AONES.

Intended audience: Public health nurses and physicians, epidemiologists and data scientists, PHU staff working in harm reduction

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  • Identify potential uses of artificial intelligence in supporting event-based surveillance systems
  • Describe how the AONES tool can be used to support public health surveillance and harm reduction activities
  • Use the AONES tool to retrieve information on the unregulated drug supply
  • Interpret the AONES data in light of the limitations of event-based surveillance systems and the application of A.I.

Presenter(s): Allison Maier and Nancy Slipp

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.

Nancy Slipp has a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Toronto. She is a Research Associate at KFL&A Public Health and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at Queen’s University. Her main professional role is as projects manager for the ACES program. She has over 10 years of experience working in public health surveillance and has special interest and expertise in syndromic surveillance, wastewater epidemiology, and knowledge translation.

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 28 Oct 2024