Duke AI Health welcomes its first AI Health Equity Scholar, Michael P. Cary, PhD, RN, who is now beginning a yearlong scholarship supported by Duke AI Health and the Duke Clinical & Translational Science Institute. The AI Health Equity Scholars Program, which provides funding for Duke University faculty, staff, and postdoctoral scholars to actively collaborate with AI Health leadership, is focused on broadening Duke’s commitment to ethical and equitable data science and artificial intelligence (AI) in health applications.

As the inaugural AI Health Equity Scholar, Dr. Cary, who is the Elizabeth C. Clipp Term Chair of Nursing at the Duke University School of Nursing, will bring to bear his unique insights, expertise, and experience in the fields of nursing, long-term care, rehabilitation, and community health. He will also contribute to ongoing and developing efforts to ensure the application ethical and equitable principles to key programs within Duke AI Health, as well as initiatives such as the Algorithm-Based Clinical Decision Support (ABCDS) Oversight Committee and the Collaborative to Advance Clinical Health Equity (CACHE).

“I am honored and humbled to be selected as the first AI Health Equity Scholar,” said Dr. Cary, adding, “creating this program is a huge commitment by our leadership, one that demonstrates intentionality in developing and deploying ethical and equitable data science and artificial health (AI) applications throughout Duke Health.”

Dr. Cary joined the faculty of the School of Nursing in 2012. 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.

 “As a Black man, and one of the few PhD-prepared nurses in the U.S. trained as an applied health data scientist, I sit at the intersection of equity, patient care, and data science. And with these unique skills and experiences, I am excited to join the Duke AI Heath team and meaningfully contribute to advancing health equity at Duke and beyond,” he commented. 

In February of 2021, Dr. Cary’s work was formally recognized when he was named a recipient of the Raymond Gavins Distinguished Faculty Award conferred by the Samuel DuBois Cook Society, which recognizes, celebrates, and affirms the presence of African American students, faculty, and staff at Duke University.