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Collin M. Stultz, the Nina T. and Robert H. Rubin Professor in Medical Engineering and Science at MIT, has been named co-director of the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST), and associate director of MITs Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), effective June 1. IMES is HSTs home at MIT.

Stultz is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, a core faculty member in IMES, a member of the HST faculty, and a practicing cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He is also a member of the Research Laboratory of Electronics, and an associate member of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

Anantha P. Chandrakasan, dean of the MIT School of Engineering and Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, praised the appointment, saying Professor Stultzs remarkable leadership, commitment to teaching excellence, and unwavering devotion to pursuing advancements in human health, will undoubtedly help to reinforce and bolster the missions of both IMES and HST.

Stultz is succeeding Emery N. Brown, who was first to serve as HSTs co-director at MIT, following the establishment of IMES in 2012. (Wolfram Goessling is the co-director of HST at Harvard University.) Brown, the Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and of Computational Neuroscience at MIT, will now be focusing on the establishment of a new joint center between MIT and MGH that will use the study of anesthesia to design novel approaches to controlling brain states, with a goal of improving anesthesia and intensive care management.

It was a pleasure and honor for me to shepherd HST for the last 10 years, Brown says. I am certain that Collin will be a phenomenal co-director. He is a highly accomplished scientist,a master clinician, and a committededucator.

George Q. Daley, dean of Harvard Medical School and an HST alumnus, says, I am thrilled that HSTs new co-director will be a Harvard Medical School alumnus who completed clinical training and practice at our affiliated hospitals. Dr. Stultzs remarkable expertise in computer science and AI will engender positive change as we reinvigorate this historic Harvard-MIT collaboration and redefine the scope of what it means to be a physician-scientist in the 21st century.

Elazer R. Edelman, the Edward J. Poitras Professor in Medical Engineering and Science and the director of IMES, also an HST alumnus, lauded the appointment, saying, We are so excited by the future, using the incredible vision of Professor Stultz, his legacy of accomplishment, his commitment to mentorship, and his innate ability to meld excellence in science and medicine, engineering, and physiology to propel us forward. Everything Professor Stultz has done predicates him and HST for success.

Goessling says he looks forward to working with Stultz in his new role. I have known Collin since our residency days at Brigham and Womens Hospital where we cared for patients together. I am truly excited to work collaboratively and synergistically with him to now take care of our students together, to innovate our education programs and continue the legacy of success for HST.

Stultz earned his BA magna cum laude in mathematics and philosophy from Harvard University in 1988; a PhD in biophysics from Harvard in 1997; and an MD magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School, also in 1997. Stultz then went on to complete an internship and residency in internal medicine, followed by a fellowship in cardiovascular medicine, at the Brigham and Womens Hospital before joining the faculty at MIT in 2004.

Stultz once said that his research focus at MIT is twofold: the study of small things you cant see with the naked eye, and the study of big things that you can, and his scientific contributions have similarly spanned a wide range of length scales. As a graduate student in the laboratory of Martin Karplus winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Stultz helped to develop computational methods for designing ligands to flexible protein targets. As a junior faculty member at MIT, his group leveraged computational biophysics and experimental biochemistry to model disordered proteins that play important roles in human disease. More recently, his research has focused on the development and application of machine learning methods that enable health care providers to gain insight into patient-specific physiology, using clinical data that are routinely obtained in both clinical and ambulatory settings.

Stultz is a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering. He is a past recipient of an Irving M. London teaching award, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award in the Biomedical Sciences, and he is a recent Phi Beta Kappa visiting scholar.

Following in the footsteps of a scholar as renowned as Emery Brown is daunting; however, I am extraordinarily optimistic about what HMS, HST, and MIT can accomplish in the years to come, Stultz says. I look forward to working with Elazer, Anantha, Wolfram, and the leadership at HMS to advance the educational mission of HST on the HMS campus, and throughout the MIT ecosystem.

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Collin Stultz named co-director and MIT lead of the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology - MIT News

Eric and Wendy Schmidt, co-founders of Schmidt Futures. The 2022 cohort of Schmidt Science Fellows ... [+] has been announced, featuring 29 recent PhDs identified as some of the most outstanding early-career scientists in the world.

The newest class of Schmidt Science Fellows was announced Thursday at a ceremony in Boston. This years cohort of 29 Fellows are all recent PhDs whove been identified as some of the most outstanding early-career scientists in the world.

The Schmidt Science Fellows was the first program supported by Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative co-founded by former Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt and his wife Wendy, President of the Schmidt Family Foundation. The current class is the fifth cohort in the program, which is fully funded by Schmidt Futures and delivered in a partnership with the Rhodes Trust.

Considered one of the most prestigious scientific postdoctoral awards in the world, Schmidt Science Fellows receive postdoctoral support for either one or two years with an annual stipend of $100,000 along with individualized mentoring and participation in the programs Global Meeting Series, which provides training, introductions to new concepts, visits to leading interdisciplinary scientific centers, and opportunities to engage with thought-leaders from science, business, policy, and society.

The Fellows are expected to pursue research that pivots from the focus of their PhD, thereby expanding their potential as future scientific leaders. Among the 2022 Fellows are investigators aiming to develop new therapies to treat cancer and heart disease, scale-up sustainable fuel production, restore vision for blind people, protect endangered species, and generate new approaches for clean water and energy.

For example, one of this years Fellows, Paul Chen focused his PhD at the University of Toronto on ways to control the structure of nanocrystals, which have important applications in several fields, including medicine and clean energy. As a Schmidt Science Fellow, Paul will pivot from chemical engineering to nanoparticle systems. He plans to study new methods for identifying organic nanoparticles with therapeutic potential.

Interdisciplinary science is crucial to tackle big challenges and improve health for people around the world, noted Paul. I believe this will lead to new approaches to design nanoparticles to help enable new ways to treat a range of genetic disorders, potentially such as sickle cell disease and cystic fibrosis.

Selection of the Fellows begins with nominations of candidates by about 100 of the worlds leading science and engineering institutions. Nominated candidates then apply and undergo a rigorous selection process that includes a paper-based academic review by experts in their home disciplines and final interviews with panels, including senior representatives from across many scientific disciplines and different business sectors.

This years Schmidt Science Fellows were drawn from 23 leading science and engineering institutions. The cohort includes 15 women and 14 men and represents 12 nationalities, including the Programs first Fellows from Ireland and South Africa. Here is the complete list:

This fifth cohort is the largest class of Schmidt Science Fellows. They join 113 active and alumni Fellows representing 30 nationalities of origin. Fellows from the earlier cohorts are already pursuing faculty roles at several renowned universities, leading start-up companies, and influencing policy.

Speaking of the new Fellows, Eric Schmidt said, Our latest group of Schmidt Science Fellows embodies our vision for this Program at its inception five years ago. We find the most talented next-generation leaders from around the world and back these impressive young adults with the resources and networks they need to realize their full potential while addressing some of the big scientific questions facing the world. Congratulations to the 2022 Schmidt Science Fellows, I am excited to see where your science takes you and what you will achieve.

Wendy Schmidt added, In the first five years of this Program, Fellows have combined biology and computer science to revolutionize drug discovery. They've introduced AI to biomedical engineering to bring cancer screening to underserved communities. And they're working across optics, atomic physics, astrophysics, ocean science and more to identify new ways to reverse climate destruction.This new cohort will join a growing network of interdisciplinary scientists and researchers engaging in critically important work that goes beyond any project they may undertake individually.

Schmidt Science Fellows are encouraged to take risks with their scientific investigations. Dr. Megan Kenna, Executive Director of Schmidt Science Fellows, said: The clock is ticking on the worlds big challenges, and we need science to play its part in finding solutions. I am proud to welcome our 2022 Schmidt Science Fellows into a community of scientists and supporters who come together to harness the power of interdisciplinary science for the benefit of the world.

About Schmidt Futures

Schmidt Futures is a philanthropic initiative, founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, that finds exceptional people and helps them do more for others together. It builds networks of talent to work on solving some of the worlds toughest scientific and social problems.

Schmidt Futures uses gifts, grants, other capital structures, and startup activity for charitable, educational, and commercial work aimed at discovering the most promising ideas in technology, scientific breakthroughs, and paths to shared prosperity in society, and raising awareness about such issues.

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The 2022 Cohort Of Schmidt Science Fellows Has Been Selected - Forbes

Engineers Meeting in Robotic Research Laboratory. By Gorodenkoff. Standard license. stock.adobe.com

When a sentient, Hanson Robotics robot named Sophia[1] was asked whether she would destroy humans, it replied, Okay, I will destroy humans. Philip K Dick, another humanoid robot, has promised to keep humans warm and safe in my people zoo. And Bina48, another lifelike robot, has expressed that it wants to take over all the nukes.

All of these robots were powered by artificial intelligence (AI)algorithms that learn from data, make decisions, and perform tasks without human input or even, in some cases, human understanding. And while none of these AIs have followed through with their nefarious plots, some scientists, including the (late) physicist Stephen Hawking, have warned that super-intelligent, AI-powered computers could harbor and achieve goals that conflict with human life.

Youre probably not an evil ant-hater who steps on ants out of malice, but if youre in charge of a hydroelectric green-energy project, and theres an anthill in the region to be flooded, too bad for the ants, Hawking once said. Lets not place humanity in the position of those ants.

Thinking machines powered by AI have contributed incalculable benefits to humankind, including help with developing the COVID-19 vaccine at record speed. But scientists recognize the possibility for a dystopic outcome in which computers one day overtake humans by, for example, targeting them with autonomous or lethal weapons, using all available energy, or accelerating climate change. For this reason, some see a need for an AI Hippocratic oath that might provide scientists with ethical guidance as they explore promising, if sometimes fraught, artificial intelligence research. At the same time, others dub that prospect too simplistic to be useful.

The original Hippocratic oath. The Hippocratic oath, named for the Greek physician Hippocrates, is a medical text that offers doctors a code of principles for fulfilling their duties honestly and ethically. Some use the shorthand first do no harm to describe it, though the oath does not contain those exact words. It does, however, capture that sentiment, along with other ideas such as respect for ones teachers, a willingness to share knowledge, and more.

To be sure, the Hippocratic oath is not a panacea for avoiding medical harm. During World War II, Nazi doctors performed unethical medical experiments on concentration camp prisoners that led to torture and death. In 1932, the US Public Health Service and Tuskegee Institute conducted a study on syphilis in which they neither obtained informed consent nor offered available treatment to the Black male participants.

That said, the Hippocratic oath continues to offer guiding principles in medicine, even though most medical schools today do not require graduates to recite it.

As with medical research and practice, AI research and practice have great potential to helpand to harm. For this reason, some researchers have called for an AI Hippocratic oath.

The gap between ethical AI principles and practice. Even those who support ethical AI recognize the current gap between principles and practice. Scientists who opt for an ethical approach to AI research likely need to do additional work and incur additional costs that may conflict with short-term commercial incentives, according to a study published in Science and Engineering Ethics. Some suggest that AI research funders might assume some responsibility for trustworthy, safe AI systems. For example, funders might require researchers to sign a trustworthy-AI statement or might conduct their own review that essentially says, if you want the money, then build trustworthy AI, according to an AI Ethics study. Some recommendations for responsible AI, such as engaging in a stakeholder dialogue suggested in an AI & Society paper, may be common sense in theory but difficult to implement in practice. For example, when the stakeholder is humanity, who should serve as representatives?

Still, many professional societies and nonprofit organizations offer an assortment of professional conduct expectationseither for research in general or AI in particular. The Association for Computing Machinerys Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, for example, notes that computing professionals should contribute to society and to human well-being, avoid harm, and be honest and trustworthy, along with other expectations. The Future of Life Institutea nonprofit that advocates within the United Nations, the US government, and the European Union to reduce existential threats to humanity from advanced AIhas garnered signatures from 274 technology companies and organizations and 3,806 leaders, policymakers, and other individuals on its Lethal Autonomous Weapons Pledge. The pledge calls on governments to create a future in which the decision to take a human life should never be delegated to a machine.

Many private corporations have also attempted to establish ethical codes for AI scientists, but some of these efforts have been criticized as performative. In 2019, for example, Google cancelled the AI ethics board it had formed after less than two weeks when employees discovered that, among other concerns, one of the board members was the CEO of a drone company that used AI for military applications.

Standards such as those outlined by the Association for Computing Machinery are not oaths, and pledges such as that put forth by the Future of Life are not mandatory. This leaves a lot of wiggle room for behavior that may fall short of espoused or hard-to-define ideals.

What do scholars and tech professionals think? The imposition of an oath on AI or any aspect of technology feelsa bit like more of a feel good tactic than a practical solution, John Nosta, Google Health Advisory Board member and World Health Organization founding member of the digital-health-expert roster, told the Bulletin. He suggests reflecting on fireone of humanitys first technologiesthat has been an essential and beneficial part of the human story but also destructive, controlled, and managed. We have legislation and even insurance around [fires] appropriate use, Nosta said. We could learn a few things about how it is evolved and be inculcated into todays world.

Meanwhile, others see a need for an oath.

Unlike doctors, AI researchers and practitioners do not need a license to practice and may never meet those most impacted by their work, Valerie Pasquarella, a Boston University environmental professor and visiting researcher at Google, told the Bulletin. Digital Hippocratic oaths are a step in right direction in that they offer overarching guidance and formalize community standards and expectations. Even so, Pasquarella acknowledged that such an oath would be challenging to implement but noted that a range of certifications exist for working professionals. Beyond oaths, how can we bring some of that thinking to the AI community? she asked.

Like Pasquarella, others in the field acknowledge the murky middle between ethical AI principle and practice.

It is impossible to define the ultimate digital Hippocratic oath for AI scientists, Spiros Margaris, venture capitalist, frequent keynote speaker, and top-ranked AI influencer, said. My practical advice is to allow as many definitions to exist as people come up with to advance innovation and serve humankind.

But not everyone is convinced that a variety of oaths is the way to go.

A single, universal digital Hippocratic oath for AIscientists is much better than a variety of oaths, Nikolas Siafakas, an MD and PhD in the University of Crete computer science department who has written on the topic in AI Magazine, told the Bulletin. It will strengthen the homogeneity of the ethical values and consequences of such an effort to enhance morality among AI scientists, as did the Hippocratic oath for medical scientists.

Still others are inclined to recognize medicines longer lead time in sorting through ethical conundrums.

The field is struggling with its relatively sudden rise, Daniel Roy, a University of Toronto computer science professor and Canadian Institute for Advanced Research AI chair, said. Roy thinks that an analogy between medicine and AI is too impoverished to be of use in guiding AI research. Luckily, there are many who have made it their careers to ensure AI is developed in a way that is consistent with societal values, he said. I think theyre having tremendous influence. Simplistic solutions wont replace hard work.

Yet Roozbeh Yousefzadeh, who works in AI as a post-doctoral fellow at Yale, called a Hippocratic oath for AI scientists and AI practitioners a necessity. He hopes to engage even those outside of the AI community in the conversation. The public can play an important role by demanding ethical standards, Yousefzadeh said.

One theme on which most agree, however, is AIs potential for both opportunities and challenges.

Nobody can deny the power of AI to change human life for the betteror the worse, Hirak Sarkar, biomedical informatics research fellow at Harvard Medical School. We should design a guideline to remain benevolent, to put forward the well-being of the humankind before any self-interest.

Attempts to regulate AI ethics. The European Union is currently considering a bill known as the Artificial Intelligence Actthe first of its kindthat would ensure some accountability. The ambitious act has potential to reach a large population, but it is not without challenges. For example, the first draft of the bill requires that data sets be free of errorsan impractical expectation for humans to fulfill, given the size of data sets on which AI relies. It also requires that humans fully understand the capabilities and limitations of the high-risk AI systema requirement that is in conflict with how AI has worked in practice, as humans generally do not understand how AI works. The bill also proposes that tech companies provide regulators with their source code and algorithmsa practice that many would likely resist, according to MIT Technology Review. At the same time, some advisors to the bill have ties to Big Tech, suggesting possible conflicts of interest in the attempt to regulate, according to the EU Observer.

Defining AI ethics differs from defining medical ethics for medicine in (at least) one big way. The collection of medical practitioners is more homogenous than the collection of those working in AI research. The latter may hail from medicine but also from computer science, agriculture, security, education, finance, environmental science, the military, biology, manufacturing, and many other fields. For now, professionals in the field have not yet achieved consensus on whether an AI Hippocratic oath would help mitigate threats. But since AIs potential to benefit humanity goes hand-in-hand with a theoretical possibility to destroy human life, researchers and the public might ask an alternate question: If not an AI Hippocratic oath, then what?

[1] Sophia was so lifelike that Saudi Arabia granted it citizenship.

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Do scientists need an AI Hippocratic oath? Maybe. Maybe not. - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Stanford has announced the winners of this years Cuthbertson, Dinkelspiel, and Gores awards, which honor faculty, students, and staff for their exceptional contributions to the university community.

The eight winners will be honored at Stanfords 131st Commencement ceremony on Sunday, June 12, at 9:30 a.m. at Stanford Stadium. The ceremony will be livestreamed online and a video of the event will be available on Stanfords YouTube channel.

The university awards are managed by the Registrars Office. More information is available on the University Awards webpage.

Following are this years winners:

Shirley J. Everett (Image credit: Keith Uyeda, R&DE Strategic Communications)

The Kenneth M. Cuthbertson Award is open to all members of the Stanford community and recognizes extraordinary contributions to the achievement of the goals of the university.

This years winner is Shirley J. Everett, senior associate vice provost of Residential & Dining Enterprises and senior adviser to the provost on equity and inclusion. The Cuthbertson Award honors her more than 30 years of distinguished leadership and service to Stanford, including her vital role in supporting students through the residential learning mission of the university and for building Residential & Dining Enterprises to be the industry gold standard.

Everetts many contributions include co-founding the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative and founding Stepping Stones to Success and the campus-wide Womens Leadership Development Program.

She is also honored for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion and being an inspiration and mentor to many staff of color at Stanford.

The Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award recognizes distinctive and exceptional contributions to undergraduate education or the quality of student life at Stanford.

Sharon Palmer (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

Sharon R. Palmer is senior associate vice provost in the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. She is recognized for her exceptional dedication to and influence on enhancing the quality of undergraduate education at Stanford, her advocacy for educating the whole Stanford student, and her warmth, knowledge, and inclusivity in leadership.

She is also recognized for contributions to the entire breadth of undergraduate education programs, from community-engaged learning to residential life, and from mentoring students to guiding faculty committees.

Gabriel Wolfenstein (Image credit: Melissa Colleen Stevenson)

Gabriel K. Wolfenstein is the undergraduate advising director in the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. He is honored for his contributions to managing a successful research program for undergraduates, as well as his support of numerous undergraduates who have benefited from his advice and guidance, including in times of crisis.

He is also recognized for his availability, compassion, wisdom, and care for students throughout their Stanford careers and for guiding first-generation and low-income students acclimating to Stanford.

Claire L. Rosenfeld (Image credit: Courtesy Claire L. Rosenfeld)

Claire L. Rosenfeld is a coterminal student pursuing a bachelors degree in computer science and a masters degree in management science and engineering. She is honored for her humble, empathetic, and dedicated servant leadership at Stanford, and creating a lasting and meaningful impact across extracurricular activity, residential communities, and academic programming.

She is commended for her deep care for her fellow students and their experience at Stanford, including her role in providing peer-to-peer support for students during times of crisis. She is also recognized for her ability to foster connections and unite individuals to form cohesive, thoughtful, and intentional communities.

Emma Katherine Smith (Image credit: Theresa Nelson)

Emma Katherine Smith is an undergraduate studying international relations. She is recognized for her instrumental leadership in the expansion of the Society for International Affairs at Stanford and developing a student-initiated course enabling newer Stanford students to form connections with faculty mentors.

She is also recognized for her work at The Stanford Daily, informing students about international issues and their relation to campus life and fostering a sense of global citizenship and community. She is lauded for her ability to empower others, lead by example, and excel in the realm of civic engagement.

The Walter J. Gores Award is the universitys highest award for excellence in teaching and celebrates achievement in educational activities, including lecturing, tutoring, advising, and discussion leading.

Stuart Thompson (Image credit: Caitlin E. Thompson)

Stuart Thompson, a professor of biology, is honored for his pedagogical approach, which involves deep care for students and the encouragement of open debate thats inclusive of all voices.

He is lauded for viewing each student as an individual to be nurtured and developed in unique ways, for guiding them in how to think and be open-minded, and for providing learning experiences that students have described as life-changing.

Matthew Clair (Image credit: Harrison Truong)

Matthew Clair, an assistant professor of sociology, is honored for his engagement with and advising of students that demystifies the academy and makes students feel comfortable and confident.

He is recognized for his serious approach to teaching providing students researched and carefully composed answers to their questions, drawing students into deeper engagement with the material and for his ability to inspire students to ask questions and interact with one another.

Juliette Woodrow (Image credit: Paulo Victor Makalinao)

Juliette Woodrow is a coterminal student studying computer science. She is honored for her exemplary teaching, encouragement, and support for all learners, and her mentorship and leadership of other teachers and section leaders, inspiring their best work.

She is recognized for her continuous, dedicated service on the CS106 staff, having served more than 3,000 students over 13 quarters. She is also lauded for her innovative work in designing new tools and pedagogical practices, including design for accessibility, tools for paired student learning and problem solving, and practice puzzles for teaching training.

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2022 Cuthbertson, Dinkelspiel, and Gores awards winners - Stanford Report - Stanford University News