When searching for a summer school that focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and medicine, Lyudong Yan, a rising high school senior from Michigan, utilized an AI platform to find programs around the country. The search results included the fourth annual University of Pittsburgh AI-Powered Medical Imaging Informatics Summer School, which returned in June to bring high school students in grades 11 and 12 together for one week to gain in-depth knowledge about AI and health care.
The Pitt summer school is distinct from other programs in that students work directly with real-world health care datasets and AI tools while interacting with faculty, researchers, clinicians and graduate student mentors actively engaged in cutting-edge research, preparing them for future study and careers at the intersection of artificial intelligence and health care.
Yan said he chose to come to Pitt to enhance his knowledge of AI and learn more about its interactions in health and medical fields.
“AI is such a fascinating developing field, and that really interests me,” Yan said. “I’m also interested in studying medicine after high school, and medical AI was the obvious next step with my passion for AI and informatics.”
However, the summer school is not only for those with previous knowledge of AI. Students of all levels of AI exposure and interest are welcome to attend. Aarna Agarwal, a rising junior who traveled from California to attend the summer school, said this flexibility of the program was very beneficial to her.
“I honestly knew nothing about AI before this,” said Agarwal, who is interested in studying biology. “I know the basics like ChatGPT and chat bots, but I thought this would be a good way to get to know more about AI, especially since it’s becoming so relevant right now.”
Expanding Partnerships and Participation
Ahmad P. Tafti, assistant professor of health informatics and director of the Pitt HexAI Research Laboratory, launched the program in 2023. The summer school is a collaborative effort between the HexAI Research Lab, the Computational Pathology and AI Center of Excellence (CPACE), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society.
A major milestone for this year’s summer school was the partnership with the technology company Leidos, which has a partnership with CPACE and provided comprehensive support for the summer school program.
“Their financial sponsorship, logistical assistance and enthusiastic engagement were instrumental in expanding the program’s reach and enhancing the overall student experience,” Tafti said. “This partnership strengthened our ability to deliver a high-quality educational experience while connecting students with perspectives from both academia and industry.”
The expanded partnership allowed the program to continue to be free for students to attend. The class included 73 students in total, with 26 in-person and 47 online, offering a hybrid approach to the material that was accessible for all. Over a third of the students were from Pennsylvania, while others represented 17 other states, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Student Experiences
Throughout the week, students completed hands-on coding exercises and collaborative group projects that examined the core components of medical imaging AI using real-world data sets and modern AI tools.
“By the end of the program, students were expected to understand fundamental AI and machine learning concepts, gain hands-on experience with computer vision techniques, and explore emerging topics including generative AI and explainable AI,” Tafti said.
Simone Boyiadzias, a rising senior at the Ellis School in Pittsburgh, is interested in studying biomedical engineering like others in her family and was excited about the promise of AI helping physicians make quicker, more efficient diagnoses.
“We focused on how computers actually analyze images and look at pixels and how AI medical informatics can be used in more everyday practices,” Boyiadzias said. “For example, how pathologists can use AI to look at slides and do more accurate cell counts than a physician not using AI. I think that’s probably the coolest thing I’ve learned.”
Responsible and Ethical AI
While the implementation of AI technology often carries an undercurrent of controversy, many of the students who attended the summer school shared how the program offered a neutral perspective of AI, demonstrating several angles of its usages and potential benefits.
“The guest speakers that were invited, I feel like every single one of them had such a distinct and niche view on AI that I really appreciated,” Yan said. “Because in high school, there was only one consensus on AI—that it’s bad. But then when I came here, I realized that view is probably not as accurate nor as prevalent as I previously believed. And now I’m getting more convinced that maybe the positives are outweighing the negatives as opposed to the other way around.”
Tafti shared that this was an intentional component of the program.
“Rather than presenting AI as either inherently good or bad, we encouraged students to develop a balanced understanding of both its tremendous potential and its important challenges,” Tafti said. “Students gained a broader appreciation of how AI can be developed and used responsibly to improve patient care and address meaningful societal challenges.”
He continued, “By exposing high school students to real-world health care applications, including but not limited to disease detection, medical image analysis and clinical decision support, they gained a broader appreciation of how AI can be developed and used responsibly to improve patient care and address meaningful societal challenges.”
Connections Beyond Summer School
While the program provided a great deal of educational benefits, Agarwal said it also provided meaningful social connections as well.
“I’ve made more friends here than I’ve made in California,” Agarwal said. “It’s like a fun group project where you’re all learning together.”
For those who partnered with and organized the event, the intelligence and eagerness from the students was both fulfilling and astounding.
Shabbir Bharmal, vice president of innovation at Leidos QTC Health Services, engaged with the students during their final presentations and wrote in a LinkedIn post, “Witnessing the passion, curiosity and dedication of these talented high school students was truly inspiring. When I was in high school, I remember spending time watching sci-fi movies like Robocop and Terminator! These kids are learning to build AI models to save lives.”
Hooman H. Rashidi and Liron Pantanowitz, executive leadership at CPACE, said, “Innovation begins with education and the future of health care will be shaped by today’s learners. That is why at CPACE, we are dedicated to empowering the next generation of health care leaders through our AI Summer School, where Dr. Tafti inspires high school students to responsibly harness the power of artificial intelligence.”
“The enthusiasm, curiosity and creativity demonstrated by this year’s participants reaffirm the importance of providing early, hands-on exposure to artificial intelligence and its responsible application in health care,” Tafti said. “We look forward to continuing to grow the program, expanding access to students from diverse backgrounds and geographic regions, and preparing the next generation of leaders at the intersection of AI, medical imaging, medicine and biomedical research.”
