Kamala Kalayani Maddali: No Longer Artificial: The Future of AI

Medicine and AI, Does it make a difference in addressing cancer? Can doctors be robots or engineers or scientists? Or can robots-engineer scientists become doctors? Rather, in this context, AI would fit augmented reality or augmented intelligence by building an avatar, the enhanced functionality of a doctor, scientist, engineer and a robot ? No, I know what you would what you're thinking. Kamala, we can’t just hand over health to computers. Of course you can’t. But you can take that help. Just like everything else in life, we can utilize computers and AI to improve patient care. Why don’t we? Do we have a fear of something that will enable us to live a healthier life? Throughout my childhood, I lived in a house with 21 other people for 18 years. Strangely enough, I was the only one who ever had any health issues. Because as if a marksman hit on the bow, and my face was right in the center. Don’t worry, I’m not bitter, but I do have a unique perception. I'm absolutely not bitter, which many of my family members don't even have. I was born with high myopia. As you see my eyeglasses. Sorry, a lot of reflection because of the type of glasses I have, which means that I am nearsighted so I can only see things which are nearby and I cannot see things at a distance. By the time I hit my pre-teens, it had gotten so worst that by the age of 11, I had minus 14 eyesight. I honestly can't believe how I studied, how I pursued so many advanced degrees and still pursuing a lifelong learning about the advancements of human on mother earth. Looking back, I think it was a drive of passion and most importantly, curiosity, like Curious George! So I’m very curious, always wanted to know more and still wanting to know more by reading books, by reading now on my device or on my laptop, right? So picking the brain off, you know, all of these, you know, AI enabled devices that we have at home, which we hear too many songs nowadays. Now I would like to take a minute to talk about the struggle that really changed my entire perspective on life and how it connected me to many of the struggles. Struggle in this case, is that uncertainties, the face of uncertainties and many other uncertainties that I got connected to. It has been 10 years since I discovered that I have multiple sclerosis with a three and a half year old in hand. I was hospitalized in the middle of the night, right on the second week of September, 10 years ago, with stroke like signs, a potentially disabling disease, it is called multiple sclerosis or M.S. and also Parkinson’s like signs. The Michael J.Fox is very well known, the Hollywood actor, and he even established a Parkinson’s Foundation. Kudos to his philanthropy. These diseases potentially disable your brain and also your movement disorders, and it’s very hard sometimes to even think appropriately and also to even walk to sit to balance. These are very debilitating diseases only 10 percent of the human brain knows. We know only 20 percent of what the human brain does. So you can imagine how tough it would be for any clinician or a doctor. And also scientists who are unveiling information. One of the most famous personalities in this field of astrophysics, Stephen Hawking's backing of a similar scenario like email us. So basically, there is a problem in these cases as their brain has issues in sending and receiving messages to and from the body. As a consequence of this painful journey, I now have an avatar that universal patient champion attitude with an infinite dimension that has opened up in my battles that helped. I don’t want to live. Why is this happening to me? But rather I want to learn. What is this teaching to me? And I want to share the journey with many patients like me or similar to me that did the unique conditions like cancer, who also have a multitude of signs like I battled because many of the cancers have tremendous impact that you can see and you can not see on the nervous system constant back pain. Through my advocacy activities. 50 And I remember very clearly, I think it’s like 2015 or 16 ish, then I started serving on cancer patient advocacy boards. And then I’m like, what! And being in the professional field as a scientist, the pharmaceutical background and as an innovator in the diagnostics background. Pardon me, my voice has issues, as you heard in the introduction piece. I wanted to really feel and see what is the impact of healthcare innovation at the patient level through my patient journey as a scientist and as elevated. You know, in this first six year, many instances and many experiences have shaped my life, starting with my aunt. I was at the pinnacle of my career in cancer, having a huge knowledge and insight not only as a clinician, but also a scientist about the advancements of medical treatments, advancements of many treatments you might have heard through COVID 19 pandemic. Many you heard about clinical trials How many years it takes for taking a novel sort of a solution or a thought about medical application into an approved treatment? It takes years I lost my aunt in 2015, less than 9 months Lung cancer never smoker beautiful person that I ever knew. Same thing happened to my niece 3 years ago. Seven years brain cancer in less han a year. My friend 40-plus. My neighbor, my neighbor’s friend, my neighbors, friends, people that I know, people that I don’t know, that I’ve met on a Flight, right? Or that have become my Facebook friend. Many of the cancer patients will become, you know, good friends because of my advocacy activity. It is just everything in our lives in unprecedented ways. One very particular experience that shook me was the number of incidents I’ve been observing how cancer by a relative is very unique in Caucasians versus African-Americans versus Southeast Asians. I have seen a Southeast Asian mom. Loser life. At the age of 49, because of biology was so unique, the doctor had, had not a better understanding of the biology and more recently in the news. Jaden, 13 years (old) all over the news in United States. He lost his life to colon cancer. A 13 year old loosing life These are not cancers that you would see that are going by the textbook if I put my lens as the clinician. So there is a huge need how we need to change our mind shift about the way, how we are traditionally practicing medicine in the context of cancer. It was very clearly evident through all these journeys that indeed including the distant past about two months ago. Is Are we really able to understand the biology of the cancer and many of the diseases like mine in the right way? And also through all of these experiences with my aunt, with my niece, with friends, with strangers, with patients and including Jane, it was very clearly evident that there was lack of access to information, lack of access to awareness of what needs to be done as early as possible. Would that be a test? Would that be access to treatments? Would there be access to trials at the right time? Because when you are switching from one treatment to other, there are many trials available. But clinical trials have a cumbersome criteria and you have only a few weeks to get enrolled into a trial and get access to that cutting edge treatment. A moment of gratitude. I really want to spend a moment. Second of gratitude for every cancer patient, every individual that's been impacted by illness. Lives that we lost, lives that are struggling A moment of gratitude. You know what Jaden can read in his last limited words, in a closed door discussion. Once again, we have permission to convey this is during his few days with technology, he realized, beyond video games and football that he liked that indeed, human body is like a video game and we really need to explore it for that because doctors understand my biology. It's a powerful, powerful message to the field of medicine. That could bring greater minds, passionate minds of a doctor passing a proficiency, acquisitions of an engineer, a robotic sort of experts, scientists. The definition of science is not just biology, right? Anyone who can really think analyze is a scientist, it can be a physicist, it can be a chemist, anyone. So cancer biology is becoming so complex and we really need to build more and more insights and understanding. We also need to bring more awareness about cutting edge treatments because 80 percent of the patients must go to a local doctor. I did in my case, and many in my case, including my aunt and Jane, they are not going to go to Topknot Center week for a month because it advances so aggressively many types of cancers. So really, information needs to be accessible as soon as possible. Technology can be enabled in such a creative way, in a timely way that when a doctor is putting that information, really, technology can guide about available treatments, available tests because testing is so important. It’s basically cancers in the case, Context of cancers. No, to cancer. So the same field of medicine is going to where it's not one drug for all right drug, for the right patient, for the right drug or right, even clinical trial to be accessible to the right patient. You also need to get tested at your DNA level. That’s where we are doing. The field of medicine is becoming from a telescopic view to a microscopic and microscopic mutant telescopic application. We really need to look into ways how we really can communicate better and collaborate better. In many cancer cases, it's proving that lack of awareness, you know, is very much is one of the causes lack of awareness of innovation. Innovation should be taken to the patient. Innovation should be taken to the physician, to the hospital system and vice versa. Cancer patients taking of so many precious life is a real moment of uncertainty. Applying one technology to another is a no brainer for us. For example, how many of us have cars, bikes, electric scooters? We are able to drive better and experience better. Why can't we do the same in the field of health outcomes? Why can't we really make our future of health much more hopeful, much more revolutionized with the insights of AI? I present to you, AI, not as an artificial intelligence. It is a method of proving and enabling and adopting a unique perception, a unique area of hope. The third eye and the fifth dimension of medicine which is personalized or precision medicine. Basically, you basically treat patients based on DNA. Instead of treating every patient, You would actually go after right. Right treatment based on the DNA, as I alluded. And it's not going up in the textbooks, as I alluded to, they alluded in my earlier conversation. There is such a big future in health care, they added. It's almost exploring the cosmos of human anatomy. I just want to take a moment and appreciate our ancient health care innovative like Sushruta Samhita who use the scientific and medical mindset for revolutionizing advancements in medicine hundreds of years ago, in some cases thousands of years ago. So there was never just a surgeon. He was also an engineer in designing the most complex surgical instruments. The first plastic surgery ever designed on the nose rhinoplasty. The best living example is Dr. James P.Allison who got Nobel Laureate Award in 2018, unveiling a secret handshake mechanism that cancer was, you know, figuring out. And he figured out a path that you can use your own immune system to really address cancer. Cutting edge treatments, cellular therapies and gene therapies are now being designed. But the biggest problem is awareness. We not only have an opportunity through AI to understand biology, but also to adapt to treatments and trials and the tests. So AI has such a vast application. Scientists, engineers, doctors are now trying 24-7 so that applying this mindset collaborative mindset across not only internal types of cancers, but also in many debilitating conditions like mine, Ms, ALS, Parkinson’s, immune disorders, all of them. You know, this is diagnosis, it’s a huge application. Robotic assisted surgery saw a huge application in AI. Covid diagnosis using AI-based applications of x rays was a game changer during the COVID 19 pandemic, predicting new treatments automation of various medical applications matching patients with trials. Patient engagement apps is so key because we're always in the mindset. We are only the ones that are battling with this. But building that empathy and humanity through cancer patient engagement apps that I have, I have experienced and I've leveraged for too many cancer patients and also their engagement app in my case, where it would build more confidence and trust towards science and medicine. It really is a game changer. The world of health care can be made so more accessible through AI. For me, if we collaborate our professional abilities and through the unique perceptions and advancements of AI, AI is authentic, audacious, augemented, accelerated and auspicious like the five fingers of our hand to make it uniquely functional. I want anyone listening to this to promise yourself you will become more aware of the intelligence that we are making to get that and more passionate and pursue professions which are impactful, purposeful and schools profitable. Everyone will make a profit on this, including our own health and also financial benefits. I want you all to pursue such cutting edge professions by collaborating and leveraging the popular of AI in the next 5 to 10 years. The analysts are predicting a double digit trillion dollar global economic boom for air researchers and colleagues. The combined pocket of science and innovation through AI can revolutionize medical advancements and save the lives of cancer patients. Patients like me and any uncertain health battles that I might face, you might face, anyone, your next door neighbor, Anyone would face and bring more hope. And Sodality, Sodality by understanding the disease biology better in the context of cancer patients leveraging treatments at the right time, twice at the right time, educating at the right time and making a certainly in the path towards health battle. Let us become the change we all want to see. Collaboration is a higher source of innovation. Let’s augment our life and the future of health with AI. Silent Revolution. No mistake.