Duke
AI Health Equity Scholar
Elizabeth C. Clipp Term Chair of Nursing
Duke University School of Nursing
Michael Cary, PhD, RN, is the Elizabeth C. Clipp Term Chair of Nursing at the Duke University School of Nursing, and was appointed as the inaugural AI Health Equity Scholar in January 2022. His work leverages complex biomedical and healthcare datasets and innovative data science approaches in order to identify risk factors that contribute to functional decline and rehospitalization among older adults, primarily older African Americans, who are at risk for disability.
why is equity important?
“I grew up in rural Virginia and as a Black man, I’ve faced my share of discrimination many times, so I know the sting of racism. As one of the few PhD-prepared nurses in the country, dually prepared as a health services researcher and an applied data scientist… I’m so proud of the work that we do at Duke. Most recently, I led a 10-member team of nurses, physicians, statisticians, and engineers. Together, we produced the largest, most comprehensive report of biased mitigation strategies in healthcare to date. [This] work is mission-critical in order to provide ethical and equitable care to our patients.” AI Health Equity Scholar Michael Cary, PhD, RN, recently delivered a thought-provoking talk about his mission to deliver ethical and equitable care by eliminating bias in healthcare algorithms at the Duke donor’s dinner.
CHAIR
Michael Cary
As the inaugural AI Health Equity Scholar and Chair of the AI Health Equity Board, Michael Cary, PhD, RN, contributes to ongoing and developing efforts to ensure the application of ethical and equitable principles to key programs within Duke AI Health.
Ai Health Equity Board
Armando Bedoya
Benjamin Goldstein
Christina Silcox
Lee Tiedrich
Nrupen Bhavsar
Siobahn Day Grady
Tomi Akinyemiju
Michael Pencina
publications
Journal of the medical directors Association
Original Study: Machine Learning Algorithms to Predict Mortality and Allocate Palliative Care for Older Patients With Hip Fracture
health affairs
Review Article: Mitigating Racial And Ethnic Bias And Advancing Health Equity In Clinical Algorithms: A Scoping Review
Events
Tackling Structural Racism In Health: Health Affairs Launch Event
Duke AI Health Equity Scholar, Dr. Michael Cary, ws an invited speaker for the Health Affairs event, “Tackling Structural Racism in Health.” The event comprised of discussions around the importance of “understanding and addressing the impact of all forms of racism—including interpersonal, institutional, and structural—essential to building equity in health systems and health care policy.
First Duke Symposium on Algorithmic Equity and Fairness in Health
Duke AI Health and the Duke University School of Nursing are proud to announce the inaugural Duke Symposium on Algorithmic Equity and Fairness in Health, scheduled to take place in spring 2024. The symposium will be spearheaded by Dr. Michael Cary, who serves as the Health Equity Scholar for Duke AI and leads the algorithmic equity initiative within Duke AI Health. More details will be announced in early fall 2023.
About the Duke Equity Scholar Program
The AI Health Equity Scholars Program, is a collaboration between Duke AI Health and the Duke Clinical and Translational Institute (CTSI). The program provides support for Duke University faculty, staff, and postdoctoral scholars to actively collaborate with AI Health leadership, and is focused on broadening Duke’s commitment to ethical and equitable data science and artificial intelligence (AI) in health applications.
