Transforming Health Insights

Improving Care and Medical Education in the Age of AI

stephen.gillis@ubc.ca (Chantal Moore, Dr. Anita Palepu, Dr. Raymond Ng) — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:00:00 +0000

In this episode of Transforming Health Insights, we will learn from Dr. Raymond Ng and Dr. Anita Palepu about AI-driven decision support that is working on streamlining triaging for breast cancer patients in BC, with the goal of identifying high-risk patients earlier so they can access care. AI is advancing rapidly in healthcare, raising important questions about ethics and responsible use. We will explore how AI can be used to address complex health system challenges when deployed responsibly, while keeping humans at the center of decision making. UBC researchers are working to harness the power of AI in health care while building safeguards around privacy and ensuring that humans, not AI, make crucial health decisions and use AI for good. AI has the potential to reimagine health care if used responsibly and thoughtfully.
HOST: Chantal Moore, Scientific Communications and Engagement Strategist, UBC Office of Research

GUESTS: Dr. Anna Blakney, Assistant Professor, Michael Smith Laboratories and School of Biomedical Engineering at UBC and Dr. Pieter Cullis, Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Produced by
EdTech: Digital Solutions for Education and Office of Research, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Story Editors and Associate Producers
Neha Manjari Akella, Research Network Manager, MS Research Network, UBC Faculty of Medicine
Chantal Moore, Scientific Communications and Engagement Strategist, Office of Research, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Technical Production by
EdTech: Digital Solutions for Education, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Sound Recordist
Sam McGuinness, EdTech: Digital Solutions for Education, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Sound Editors
Sam McGuinness and Vanessa Reuter, EdTech: Digital Solutions for Education, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Associate Director, Research Programs & Administration
Shelly Au, Office of Research, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Executive Director
Dr. Michelle Wong, Canada’s Immuno-engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub and Office of Research, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Senior Producer, Creative and Distribution
Stephen Gillis, EdTech: Digital Solutions for Education, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Executive Producer
Zachary Rothman, EdTech: Digital Solutions for Education, UBC Faculty of Medicine

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Episode Chapters

· [00:00] – Introduction and episode overview

· [01:36] – Personal pathways into AI and Health

· [03:57] – Expediting breast cancer triaging

· [08:02] – Scaling AI models across health settings

· [09:28] – AI’s role in clinical care

· [11:06] – Equity, access and marginalized populations

· [12:38] – Education and training around AI best practices

· [15:44] – Responsible use and UBC AI and Health Network

· [22:29] – Sustainability and environmental responsibility

· [25:50] – Improve patient experience and healthcare impact

· [28:16] – Future vision

· [31:03] – Closing remarks

· [31:31] – Knowledge nugget

Resources & References

· Learn more about

o AI and Health Network: https://aihealth.med.ubc.ca/

o Dr. Raymond Ng: https://www.cs.ubc.ca/~rng/

o Dr. Anita Palepu: https://datascienceandhealth.ubc.ca/people/anita-palepu

· Ng, Raymond. New data centres need to be built for the right reasons (September 21, 2026).https://www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/6f8ae90c134057a9373d4be8ee82374724bed37d8e992ba94cb5f4fc67883df2/XGRAG74R35CNFK7CW7TDCZQ7RI/.

· Gondara, Lovedeep, et al. "Small or large? zero-shot or finetuned? guiding language model choice for specialized applications in healthcare." Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction 7.4 (2025): 121.

· Al-Najafi, Dheyaa, et al. "Psychometric performance and student perceptions of AI-versus student-generated multiple-choice questions: a single-center randomized controlled trial." BMC Medical Education 26.1 (2026): 1376.

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The Southern Medical Program and the Okanagan Academic Campus of the University of British Columbia are situated on the territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation.

The Northern Medical Program and the University of Northern BC are situated on the traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh, part of the Dakelh (Carrier) First Nations.

With respect to the Lekwungen peoples on whose traditional territory the Island Medical Program and the University of Victoria stand, and the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

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The Race to Reinvent Medicine, and Why Canada is Winning

stephen.gillis@ubc.ca (Chantal Moore, Dr. Anna Blakney, Dr. Pieter Cullis) — Fri, 4 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

In this episode, Dr. Pieter Cullis and Dr. Anna Blakney explore the rapidly advancing field of RNA-lipid nanoparticle (LNP) therapeutics and how this technology is enabling next-generation drug discovery platform with applications to precision or personalized medicines.

This technology, best known for its role in COVID-19 vaccines, is now being applied to personalized cancer vaccines, rare genetic diseases, gene editing and even anti-aging research. The conversation covers how these therapies are designed and delivered, including how patient-specific treatments can be developed and adapted on accelerated timelines, and the exciting potential for a new generation of safer, more-targeted cancer therapies.

They also examine the infrastructure required to move these innovations from lab to clinic, including biomanufacturing, regulatory pathways and the role of Canada’s research ecosystem. Their take-home message: RNA-LNP-based medicine represents a fundamental shift in how we treat diseases, and the shift is already underway with B.C. and Canada well positioned to help lead what comes next.

HOST: Chantal Moore, Scientific Communications and Engagement Strategist, UBC Office of Research