We hope this new tool will help treat cancer in developing countries United States Mission to International Organizations in Vienna / Flickr / public domain
Cambridge oncologist Raj Jena has been appointed the first clinical professor of AI in radiotherapy in the UK.
According to the university, the appointment “signals the importance of artificial intelligence in the fight against cancer,” continuing Cambridge’s use of cutting-edge technology to tackle global challenges.
While the technology is already used to diagnose and treat some cancers, its ability to transform patient care during cancer treatment depends on generating more information to train artificial intelligence models – something Professor Jena hopes his new position can help with .
He explained: “The professor will have a specific role in building networks and leading projects.”
“We need to bring together the right teams and expertise to explore these issues, understand the technology and, of course, develop guidelines and good practices, because trust is key, as is making sure you take others with you,” he continued.
This comes at a time of significant debate about the role of artificial intelligence in academia. Last semester, HSPS faculty published an open letter urging students to reject the use of tools like Chat-GPT in academic work.
The department then switched to face-to-face exams because “too many” students were using AI for online exams.
In 2023 Varsity the study found that almost half of all Cambridge students used AI to complete university work, and almost a fifth of respondents used AI to create assessed work related to their degree, such as coursework.
Cambridge currently has a blanket ban on the use of AI technology in assessed work, treating it as academic misconduct, but guidance on using the technology for ungraded work varies between departments.
Professor Jena’s research has already resulted in a tool that helps prepare scans by identifying and protecting healthy tissue, reducing the waiting time between referral and treatment. The tool became the first cloud-based AI technology to be implemented in the NHS.
His next project involves designing a new radiotherapy device that will help identify cancers and suggest the best possible treatments by feeding scans into a basic artificial intelligence model. We hope this will help cancer services in developing countries that lack radiotherapy facilities and equipment.
New research should contribute to increasing the advancement of artificial intelligence in medicine. Professor Jena explained that this could lead to “more early detection programs and instead of waiting until the cancer is big enough to be seen on an imaging scan, we will ask if we can check for breathing or a prick of blood at the finger.” ?
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