Day 5 Fieldwork 2026

Today is the day of our long-anticipated AI in Medicine Workshop! This 6-hour workshop was hosted by AlmaU in their new state-of-the-art AI Lab. We started the workshop with opening remarks from Dr. Seshadri and Dr. Shashkin, where they discussed the importance of international collaboration and integrating AI into healthcare. There were also opening remarks from Sholpan Tazabek and her AlmaU colleague regarding AlmaU's partnership with Lehigh University and how collaborative learning and entrepreneurship are crucial to an innovative future. Following this, Dr. Azhar Tursynova gave a keynote address explaining how she used AI in her research to detect stroke early. Then, Ada moderated a panel discussion called “Data to Diagnosis: Translating AI into Clinical Practice,” featuring panelists Dr. Seshadri, Dr. Shashkin, and a colleague of Dr. Shashkin, Dr. Assem Mustafanova. In this panel, panelists shared their fondness for AI in making the busy work simple, efficiently analyzing data, rapidly providing information, and more. They all agreed that AI has areas to improve in and be applied to. For example, knowing that a lot of medical research tests patients from backgrounds different than those of the target patients, Dr. Seshadri wants AI to advance in equitable research in clinical trials and development of devices, diagnoses, and therapies.

After a brief coffee break filled with pastries and networking, Victoria from Swello introduced another panel named “AI for Health Equity and Global Impact.” This panel featured panelists Daulet Sabyr, Khanjan Mehta, Dr. Steven McIntosh, and Dr. Karina Sekenova. From this panel, we were able to understand how important it is to adapt to AI and use its abilities for productivity and efficiency, especially when connecting different countries and cultures. As Dr. McIntosh said best, “AI is not going to take your job, but someone that knows how to use AI better will.” Following this, Sameer, Hannah (Swello), and Jacob (Swello) presented a slideshow on AI in Medicine, explaining categories of AI models as well as highlighting different applications of AI such as in cardiology and radiology.

Thanks to AlmaU’s cafeteria and catering staff, we were able to break for lunch and continue to discuss and network with our attendees. After our lunch break, we entered the final portion of the workshop: our Product Pitches and Innovation Showcase. Shahrom Ibodulloev from Columbia University started it off with his venture, My Attention AI, an AI screening tool for ADHD in adults. Subsequently, Dayana Zholgasovna Danaeva and Denis Dmitrievich Voronov from the Department of Biotechnology at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University showcased their research for an AI platform intended to create a digital patient health record. Then, Stanislav Alexandrovich Panov presented his start-up Melisa, an AI-based voice assistant for mass prevention and early diagnosis. Finally, Kadyr Maratuly gave a presentation that reviewed many different applications of human health monitoring, using ratings “Come On,” “Maybe,” and “Unreal.”

After taking a picture to cap off the eventful workshop day, we regrouped as NTD to debrief. We reflected on the things we learned, the people we met, and how we can improve if we were to hold this workshop again. We are very proud of how the workshop turned out, but our work is not done, even on the weekend!