Advancing Pediatric Care with AI in Radiology and Virtual Trials

In this episode, Dr. Paul Yi, Associate Member, Department of Radiology, Section Chief of Intelligent Imaging Informatics (I3) at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, shares his journey from radiology training at Johns Hopkins to leading AI initiatives at St. Jude, focusing on pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases. 

Dr. Yi highlights how AI is transforming the radiology workflow, from automating imaging protocols and improving image reconstruction to translating complex medical reports into patient-friendly language. He emphasizes the importance of data strategy, discussing the integration of clinical EMRs, PACS, and research databases, ensuring interoperability while leveraging domain expertise across disciplines. He explores generative AI applications, including virtual imaging trials that simulate patient populations for safer, faster, and cost-effective clinical research, as well as patient-facing applications like AI chatbots for healthcare education, noting both potential and limitations in trust and accuracy.

Dr. Yi reflects on bridging research and commercialization, underscoring the need to align academic and industry incentives. He envisions a future powered by multimodal AI models that combine imaging, vitals, labs, and clinical text to deliver comprehensive, personalized insights – accelerating precision care and innovation in pediatric oncology. Take a listen.