Partner Spotlight: University of Florida

A Q&A with Bruno Hochhegger, MD, PhD 
​& Joice Prodigios, Research Fellow

The University of Florida (UF) has been driving innovation since 1853.
Ranked among America’s best public universities, UF is known for its strong academic programs, state-of-the-art research facilities, and international community of collaborators. This world-class destination for students, scholars and innovators prides itself on “pushing the boundaries of the unknown to answer the next big question.” And it’s this commitment to academic excellence and strides in the field of artificial intelligence that have led to UF’s game-changing research and industry innovations across all disciplines.

We spoke with Dr. Bruno Hochhegger — UF professor of radiology and vice chair of research, department of radiology — and UF Research Fellow Joice Prodigios, about the most valuable aspect of OSIC membership and their hopes for the future of our collaborative organization. Following is an excerpt from our conversation.
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What do you find most beneficial about being a part of OSIC?

OSIC’s collaborative environment for sharing knowledge and resources within the scientific community is invaluable. By working together to improve our understanding of interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), we can help bring patients better clinical outcomes.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of your long-standing membership?

Working with a multidisciplinary team to help achieve better outcomes has been a great reward. We are also very proud of the more than 1,000 anonymized patient cases we’ve been able to contribute to the OSIC Cloud Data Repository. We believe that building reliable and representative databases is the only way to develop the future of artificial intelligence. The addition of these cases can make a huge contribution to future ILD research.

For people wondering if they should join OSIC, what would you say to them? What is the value in being a part of this organization?

OSIC harnesses the power of data to improve clinical patient outcomes. We are looking for nuances and patterns that human eyes are not capturing, but that information could be revealed through the human brain empowered by the artificial intelligence. Some crucial information can be found, and a tremendous impact could be achieved in diagnosis, prognosis and outcomes.

If you had a crystal ball, what do you think OSIC will have accomplished in five years?

Implementation of algorithms in clinical practice that could help in earlier diagnosis of some fibrotic lung diseases that will effectively improve patient’s quality of life. We’re confident that in the coming years, someone will find an image biomarker that will make this possible.