I am Professor of Computer Science at the Faculty of Computer Science, and am cross-appointed as Professor of Medicine (cross appointed) at the Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax. I am the founding director and scientific lead of the NICHE (kNowledge Intensive Computing for Healthcare Ecosystems) research group that conducts interdisciplinary research at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for healthcare, digital health and digital transformation.

Currently, I serve as board director at IWK Health Center (Halifax, NS), Board Member at International Association of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. I am the Digital Health Canada’s representative at International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). I am Member of College of Reviewers at Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). I served as Board Director at Digital Health Canada (2018-2024) and Director of Health Informatics at Faculty of Computer Science (2005 –2020).

My research program is titled Artificial Intelligence Innovations for Digital Healthcare, purporting an inter-disciplinary line of inquiry, scholarship, leadership, innovation and digital transformation. I am passionate about developing innovative and intelligent healthcare solutions using state-of the-art AI technologies, and implementing them as pragmatic digital health solutions to improve health outcomes at the  patient, provider and public levels.

I conduct research in both data-driven and knowledge-driven AI methods which is a unique combination. Research in data-driven AI focuses on health data analytics using state-of-the-art machine learning methods for predictive modeling, population surveillance, survival analysis, risk stratification, disease/risk trend analysis, population phenotyping health system optimization. Research in knowledge-driven AI focuses on health knowledge management to computerize and operationalize clinical practice guidelines, clinical workflows, behaviour change theories and public/patient educational content to generate recommendation for personalized healthcare. I am experienced in developing digital health applications targeting (i) point-of-care clinical decision support systems based on computerized health knowledge and health data analytics; (ii) digital therapeutics for personalized public/patient empowerment services to assist in disease risk assessment, chronic disease self-management, behaviour modification, virtual/home-based care and personalized lifetime health, (iii) digital twins for precision medicine, and (iv) digital dashboards for health system optimization, population surveillance and remote patient monitoring.

My research has led to international and national awards and recognitions, that include, Leadership in the Field of Health Informatics Award by Digital Health Canada, International Award for Innovation in Medical Informatics awarded at the World Expo (Hannover) by International Congress of Medical Informatics in Europe, Faculty Research Excellence Awards, Multiple Best Paper Awards.

For over 25 years, I have been involved with digital health/health informatics academics, research and innovation, advocacy, expert review, invited talks, and policy development at both international and national levels. As an academic, I have the privilege of working with talented students who are innovating solutions and shaping the healthcare delivery landscape in Canada and abroad. I have supervised over 90 graduate students, published over 300 research articles at top-tier venues, and developed over 40 state-of-the-art digital health systems funded by both government agencies and industry. You can find more information about my research activities by visiting the dedicated web-pages.

Prior to joining Dalhousie University, I worked at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia (1995-2001) and at University of Surrey, UK (1993-1994).