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news source:https://cyclicarx.com/press-releases/cyclica-ceo-naheed-kurji-named-chair-of-the-aaih/

Rapidly growing advocacy organization for the responsible adoption of AI/ML technology across life sciences and healthcare enters its fourth year

Baltimore, Md. — Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAIH), a 501(c)(4) non-profit advocacy and educational organization dedicated to promoting the development and implementation of AI in healthcare, has appointed a new slate of Board Members and Executive Officers for 2022. 

The new officers are:

• Chair, Naheed Kurji, Co-Founder, President and CEO, Cyclica
• Vice Chair, Angeli Möller, Ph.D., Head of Pharma International Informatics (PIIX), Roche
• Treasurer, Meredith Brown-Tuttle, RAC, FRAPS, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Recursion Pharmaceuticals
• Secretary, Maria Luisa Pineda, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO, Envisagenics 

Mr. Kurji and Dr. Möller will now lead the organization’s Board of Directors as it begins its fourth year. AAIH works globally with industry, academia, patient advocacy and government stakeholders to address key challenges and opportunities surrounding the adoption of AI in healthcare. AAIH operates through its standing committees to address three key areas: data quality, data access, including social equity and fairness education, and regulatory affairs – working with government stakeholders including the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada, and the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

“AI will continue to have a demonstrable impact on human health. Having spent the last three years ideating with my fellow charter members to establish AAIH, I’m honored to take the reins and thrilled I get to engage with an incredible team of Executive Officers and a dynamic board,” said Kurji.  

Launched in January 2019, AAIH was previously chaired by John Baldoni, Ph.D., former SVP of In Silico Medicine at GSK and Brandon Allgood, Ph.D., Chief AI Officer at Valo Health. The organization has grown from 22 founding members to more than 50 companies representing the entire healthcare and life science spectrum, from drug discovery and clinical development to medical devices and AI-enabled diagnostics.

“AAIH was founded on the principle of pre-competition so that we could move the industry forward together, instead of separately. It is clear from recent collaborations that AI is no longer an emerging technology – it is and will continue to impact how healthcare is delivered to patients. This makes AAIH’s role even more essential. I am confident the incoming leadership will build on current efforts and spread our mission and vision,” said Dr. Allgood. 

During Dr. Allgood’s tenure, AAIH added many recognizable industry leaders to its member roster, including Roche, Huma, CancerLinQ, nFerence, Neumora, and BenevolentAI, among others. Along with founding members, which include Recursion, Insilico Medicine, Valo Health and Johnson & Johnson, AAIH is building momentum to affect change across the globe. 

“AAIH is represented by small, medium and large multinational healthcare companies united by a common belief that the ethical use of AI is transforming patient care,” said Dr. Möller. “Our leadership team’s strength is in its diversity – from gender to race, from industry expertise to practice areas and backgrounds. I appreciate the trust my industry peers have shown in appointing me Vice Chair of AAIH.”

In addition to appointed of the four Executive Officers, the AAIH Executive Committee includes:

• Najat Khan, Chief Data Science Officer and Global Head, Janssen R&D Strategy & Operations, Johnson & Johnson
• Sean Khozin, MD, MPH, CEO, CancerLinQ
• James Zanewicz, JD, LLM, RTTP, Chief Business Officer, Tulane University School of Medicine
• Vangelis Vergetis, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Executive Director, Intelligencia.ai
• Blanca Baez, Founder of DBounce
• Rafael Rosengarten, Co-Founder and CEO, Genialis
• Paul Howard, Director of Public Policy, Amicus Therapeutics
• Oscar Rodriguez, VP, Head of Data Engineering, Neumora

In addition to the officers and executive committee, AAIH is advised by the following members of the Board of Directors: 

• Matthias Alder, Chief Operating Officer, Gain Therapeutics 
• Natasha Drapeau, Executive Vice President, BioSig Technologies, Inc. 
• Juana Flores, Ph.D., VP, Strategy & Business Development, Scailyte 
• David Hochhauser, Chief Revenue Officer, Hub Security 
• Joseph Lehár, Ph.D., SVP, R&D Strategy, Owkin
• Tom Sharrock, Ph.D., AI Engagement Manager, Lifebit
• Catherine Tucker, VP, Business Development, BenevolentAI Ltd. 
• Mark Weston, Co-Founder and CEO, Netrias 
• Angela Wilkins, Ph.D., Executive Director, Ken Kennedy Institute (Rice University) 
• Alex Zhavoronkov, Ph.D., CEO, InSilico Medicine

AAIH is a partner at the upcoming ViVE, a technology conference focused on the business of transformation in healthcare. It is scheduled for March 6-9 in Miami. The conference brings together healthcare industry leaders who are shaping tech-enabled healthcare and addressing key issues in digital health innovation, including AI/ML technologies. For more information on becoming a member of AAIH, please visit www.theaaih.org.