Computer science alumnus Ahmad Tafti (’16 PhD; advisor: Habib Rahman), who is now assistant professor of health informatics in the University of Pittsburgh, has received an Oracle Excellence Award for Research, one of several awards the company bestows on researchers in academic, commercial, and governmental settings. The honor recognizes a researcher who is using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure to explore novel ways advance their fields and make the world a better place.
Tafti was honored for his work as director of the Pitt Health + Explainable AI (HexAI) Research Laboratory, which is assembling a large retrospective dataset on total joint arthroplasty (surgery), using medical images, scientific literature, and health-related social media.
The team is also building advanced AI models to address critical challenges in prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of joint disease as it relates to total knee and hip replacements.
Tafti serves as vice chair of the Pittsburgh Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society and also works with Pitt’s Center for AI Innovation in Medical Imaging.