Lab Matters Fall 2024 | Page 21

FEATURE

“ There ’ s a real opportunity for public health in leveraging classical machine learning and generative AI . … How can we lessen the burden on our data generators ?”

Jorge Calzada , MBA , director , CDC OPHDST Platforms Division their genetic signature ,” he said . “ Without having to know anything about their physical attributes , you could predict these bacteria will all be resistant to this class of antibiotic because they ’ ve got this genetic background .”

Managing and Improving Data

AI could also remove a tremendous burden that falls on public health laboratories : data management . Public health laboratory professionals are spending an inordinate amount of time managing data such as electronic reporting — taking time away from their area of expertise , said Michelle Meigs , MBA , APHL director of informatics .

“ The maintenance right now to keep up , monitor and support all of those connections , to make sure the data are valid , and to make sure that it ’ s done properly , is time-consuming ,” Meigs said .

Calzada calls it “ data janitorial services ,” which includes cleaning data and transforming it from one format to another . “ There ’ s a real opportunity for public health in leveraging classical machine learning and generative AI . … How can we lessen the burden on our data generators ?”

Leveraging AI to take over those tasks would free up both employees and funds “ and then that money could go back into other initiatives ,” Meigs said .

Of course it ’ s not up to the public health laboratories by themselves — it takes funding , support and policy changes . The 2022 Reimagining Public Health survey by Ernst & Young questioned 301 public health officials . While 82 % of senior leaders said they need to modernize their organization , only 39 % of service delivery team members agreed . At the time , only 34 % of respondents were pursuing major information technology upgrades , with only 10 % integrating this activity with system-wide transformations .

This survey of 301 public health officials found that while slightly more than one in two ( 52 %) are optimistic about what data can achieve for their communities , the rate of digital transformation remains uneven , and organizations face significant barriers to change .

Data modernization has been talked about and worked on for years in public health , but Calzada said he believes these recent and ongoing advancements in technology can help public health catch up to industry .

After the COVID-19 pandemic , CDC created three new offices , including the OPHDST which creates and manages tools to help the other divisions . Or , as Calzada explains , the Platforms Division is helping CDC become “ AI ready .”

The first step is to fix data quality . “ We ’ re starting to implement frameworks for how to measure that , doing that inside of a platform so it happens automatically and then sharing that information , so we can all have a common agreement on what the quality of our data is ,” Calzada said .

Organizations and laboratories can also assess the quality of their data . The Artificial Intelligence Maturity Model developed by MITRE is a free tool that provides a systematic framework that organizations follow as they manage , adopt , resource and implement AI . MITRE is a not-for-profit IT research and development company that works through public-private partnerships and federally funded research and development centers to solve challenges to the safety , stability and well-being of the US .

“ The AI Maturity Model walks individuals and organizations through how to assess their state of readiness , where they can focus their resources , and how they can …

assess where they are in this continuum of AI adoption ,” said epidemiologist E . Oscar Alleyne , DrPH , MPH , managing director of the Public Health Division at MITRE . The model also assists organizations in evaluating “ how to build in maturity to more systemic , or perhaps more focused , areas of implementation ,” he said .

Another free tool from MITRE is ATT & CK , which is a cybersecurity tool that can develop threat models that data or organizations might be facing .

As Calzada sees it , the next step is to improve the data management lifecycle . A modern data platform should manage its data automatically , he said . That includes ingesting , storing , transforming , analyzing and sharing the data .

Calzada is a data scientist whose background is as a technology executive . After he joined the public health arena less than two years ago , he said he observed the numerous department and data siloes across public health . He believes “ virtual knowledge graphs ” could help public health data integration , management and access . Such graphs are more flexible and