The SYNTHEMA community recently convened for its pivotal 2nd consortium meeting, diving deep into its mission of leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the advancement of hematological research. Established with the vision of creating a cross-border hub, SYNTHEMA is dedicated to not only developing but also validating AI techniques that ensure the anonymization of patient data and facilitate synthetic data generation, particularly in the domain of rare hematological diseases.
Kicking off with WP1, led by VHIR’s María del mar Mañú Pereira, the focus was on clinical data collection, an essential foundation stone. This was followed by insights from WP4 (ICH and UNIBO), presented by Matteo Della Porta and Gastone Castellani, emphasizing the validation and statistical utility of collected data. In an era where data privacy is paramount, WP5 took center stage, discussing privacy and security assessments, helmed by Nathan Lea (i-HD) and Laura Carmichael (UoS). The subsequent sessions covered an array of crucial areas, from WP3’s synthetic data generation and treatment modeling (VICOM) to WP6’s commitment to outreach and collaboration, steered by Arantxa Echarte of AUS.
The latter half of the day zoomed into WP2, spearheaded by UPM’s Silvia Uribe Mayoral and Borja Arroyo, shedding light on the development of the Federated Learning (FL) platform. Ensuring the smooth sailing of the entire project, WP7 addressed the critical elements of coordination, management, and most importantly, ethics, under the expert guidance of Anna Rizzo, Piercosma Bisconti (DW), and Gustavo Hernandez (UPM).
In wrapping up the consortium, the focus was on consolidation, action plans, and envisioning the road ahead. SYNTHEMA’s journey, packed with collaboration, innovation, and a singular dedication to health research, epitomizes the potential of marrying AI with medical research. As the community takes strides forward, the promise of making significant inroads in rare hematological disease research using AI remains strong.
