MCCHE Convergent Innovation Webinar Series with Tome Eftimov
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Towards AI-driven Food and Nutrition Science and Society: Opportunities and Challenges
Tome Eftimov
Senior Researcher, Computer Systems Department, Jožef Stefan Institute
Tome Eftimov is a senior researcher at the Computer Systems Department at the JožefÌýStefan Institute. He is a visiting assistant professor at the Faculty of Computer ScienceÌýand Engineering, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje. He is a part of the ELIXIR Food and Nutrition Community. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the StanfordÌýUniversity, USA, where he investigated biomedical relations outcomes by using AI methods.ÌýIn addition, he was a research associate at the University of California, San Francisco,Ìýinvestigating AI methods for rheumatology concepts extraction from electronicÌýhealth records. His research interests include natural language processing, statisticalÌýdata analysis, metaheuristics, representation learning, and machine learning. He is anÌýorganizer of several workshops related to AI at high-ranked international conferencesÌýincluding the Big Food and Nutrition Data Management and Analysis at the IEEE BigDataÌýconference 2019, 2020, and 2021. He is a scientific coordinator of a EFSA funded projectÌýrelated to information extraction in food safety and actively participates in several EuropeanÌýprojects related to AI and food and nutrition data, including COMFOCUS.
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Abstract
Lancet Planetary Health in 2019 noted that the focus of future improvements in our wellbeing and societies will depend on investigatingÌýthe links between food systems, human health, and the environment. However, despite the large number of available resources and work done in the health and environmental domains, there is a lack of data and digital resources that can be utilized in the food and nutritionÌýdomain, as well as their interconnections. For the purpose of attaining human and societal wellbeing through advances in the field of artificialÌýintelligence (AI), the talk will focus on opportunities for utilizing big data from food and nutrition and their interrelations with the biomedicineÌýand the environment. Huge amounts of data containing valuable information is now available in various datasets, registries, and scientific andÌýgrey literature, which makes it possible to use advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods. However, before applying AI methods on real-life
data, that is heterogeneous (i.e., of different types and formats), unstructured (textual) data needs to be structured and normalized with otherÌýstructured data. In this talk, we will explain AI methods and resources that can be used on different levels in the modeling process, startingÌýfrom raw data to discovered knowledge. Finally, the existence of such methods and resources will be linked to several application scenarios ofÌýutilizing food and nutrition data in predicting emotional distress, COVID-10 mortality rate, and food chain traceability.
Dr. Eftimov's presentation will be supported by his collaborators: Barbara Koroušić Seljak and Gjorgjina Cenikj.
Chair: Laurette Dubé (Scientific Director of MCCHE)
Co-Chair & Moderator: John G. Keogh (Managing Principal, Shantalla Inc. Toronto )
Special Panel: A panel with scientists, business and policy leaders will discuss how scientific and technological developments andÌýontologies bridging farm, food and human behavior, can accelerate the design and long-term performance of convergence platforms ecosystemsÌýtargeting achievable and time-bound real-world solutions placing human and environmental health at the core. This will advance the design ofÌýintegrative digital architecture and governance framework to scale up how real-world data generated by individuals and institutions within andÌýacross disciplines and sectors can contribute to a World reset on convergence economy, building upon the challenges and possibilities reviewedÌýabove. Capitalizing on digital transformation of science and society, convergence economy takes a person-centered approach to bridging organizationsÌýand systems across sectors and jurisdictions, fully acknowledging that developed and developing worlds share the same planet, forÌýworld-scale transformation toward sustainable prosperity and affordable nutrition and health.
ABOUT THE SERIES
The Convergent Innovation Webinar Series features cutting edge science, technology and innovation in agriculture, ;food, environment, education, medicine and other domains of everyday life where grand challenges lie at the convergence of health and economics. Powered by data science, artificial intelligence, and other digital technologies, this disciplinary knowledge bridges with behavioural, social, humanities, business, economics, social, engineering, and complexity sciences to accelerate real-world solution at scale, be it in digital or physical contexts. Initiated in the agri-food domain, the series is now encompassing other grand challenges facing modern and traditional economies and societies, such as ensuring lifelong wellness and resilience at both the individual and population levels.