This episode features a detailed discussion with Akshay Swaminathan, a data scientist with significant contributions to health systems improvement, including 40 peer-reviewed publications and features in the New York Times. Currently an AI Researcher, medical student, and PhD candidate at Stanford University, Swaminathan discusses the potential of data science in healthcare, emphasizing the importance of delivering the right treatment to the right patient at the right time. The conversation covers domain specificity in data science, the trend of healthcare professionals engaging in data science, the importance of cross-functional teams, and the role of traditional IT and data science projects in healthcare. Swaminathan also introduces his book, 'Winning with Data Science,' designed to help non-technical domain experts collaborate effectively with data scientists. The episode highlights the potential obstacles to data-driven healthcare solutions, including data quality, biases, interoperability, and data sharing, and suggests starting with identifying key problems before applying data science solutions.

Highlights:

00:38 The Power of Data in Healthcare Delivery

02:03 The Unique Blend of Healthcare and Data Science Expertise

02:52 Cross-Functional Teams: A Trend in Healthcare Data Science

04:56 Empowering Domain Experts to Leverage Data Science

10:35 Case Study: Improving Crisis Response Times at Cerebral

13:30 The Future of AI in Healthcare: Automation and Co-Pilot Solutions

17:41 Challenges and Solutions for Data in Healthcare AI

24:09 Practical Advice for Leveraging Data in Healthcare

Guest:

.Akshay Swaminathan is a data scientist who works on strengthening health systems. He has more than forty peer-reviewed publications, and his work has been featured in the New York Times and STAT. Previously, he was a data scientist at Flatiron Health and Head of Data Science at Cerebral. He is currently an AI researcher and MD/PhD candidate at Stanford University.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshay-swaminathan-68286b51

Book: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/winning-with-data-science/9780231206860

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