91社区

By Meaghan Thurston

For Joelle Pineau, becoming a medical doctor was鈥攊n her words鈥攏ot in the cards. However, this Associate Professor from 91社区`s School of Computer Science is now the driving force behind promising research whose aim is to use AI to improve the treatment of cancer and heart disease.

More specifically, Pineau and her colleagues from the departments of Medical Physics and Bioengineering at 91社区 are trying to improve adaptive radiation dosage by using a combination of computational modelling, cell cultures, and animal models of carcinogenesis. Initial results of this collaborative work demonstrate faster discovery of a personalized pharmacological treatment strategy. The researchers will soon incorporate imaging data in order to enrich the information base about patient pathology and disease progression.

In recognition of her innovative approach, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) today awarded Pineau one of 6 prestigious E.W.R Steacie Memorial Fellowships. Steacie Fellows receive $250,000 over two years and are relieved of teaching and administrative duties so that they can devote their time and energy to research.

鈥淚 am so honoured to receive the E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship鈥�, said Pineau. 鈥淥n the road to 91社区鈥檚 200th anniversary, it is my research group鈥檚 objective to harness the unimaginable potential of AI to develop solutions for unmet clinical and patient needs.鈥�

A balance of fundamental and applied science

Pineau is one of the forces behind 91社区鈥檚 growing specialization in reinforcement learning (RL), a sub-discipline of machine learning concerned with building programs which learn how to predict and act, based on experience.聽 Her goal is to develop a signature mathematical construct to capture a suite of elements related to health, including an individual鈥檚 medical history, genetics, lab tests, imaging results, and history of interventions. In addition, Pineau will address questions about communicating methods.

In order to reach these goals, two-thirds of the students in Pineau鈥檚 lab are working on mathematical models that are fundamental in nature. 鈥淚t is rich to have this duel research agenda, both fundamental and applied, which allows for collaborations across departments,鈥� says Pineau. 鈥淔or me, working on applied problems also helps me stay grounded in my math models, but in a more directed way.鈥�

For Pineau, any idea is worth exploring, but ultimately it is the robustness and reliability of the dataset that determines the outcome. 鈥淎I solutions are about using data to expose patterns, and if the data you have is not robust to replication, it will not yield results,鈥� she cautions. 鈥淭he work of an AI researcher is in many ways like that of a financial planner. You take an honest look at the data and then plan the best way forward.鈥�

Thanks to NSERC鈥檚 continued support, Pineau鈥檚 research has the potential to revolutionize the field of personalized medicine. 鈥淲e are grateful to NSERC for its support of innovative research, including Professor Pineau鈥檚 specialization in reinforcement learning,鈥� said Martha Crago, Vice-Principal, Research and Innovation. 鈥淐ongratulations to Professor Pineau on this well-deserved recognition of her contributions to AI advances in academia and industry.鈥�

Pineau is the current Director of Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) Montreal and will continue in this position while holding the E.W.R. Steacie Award.

On May聽1, 2018, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada聽(NSERC) celebrated the winners of its six national prizes: the Synergy Awards for Innovation; NSERC Gilles Brassard Doctoral Prizes for Interdisciplinary Research; E.W.R.聽Steacie Memorial Fellowships; Brockhouse聽Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering; NSERC聽John聽C.聽Polanyi Award; and Gerhard聽Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering. The winners were awarded at a ceremony at the Governor聽General of Canada鈥檚 residence at Rideau聽Hall in Ottawa.

For more information about the E.W.R. Steacie Award:

PHOTO:聽聽Martin Lipman/NSERC