In a world where the amount of data generated by the healthcare sector is growing exponentially, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), mathematics, and big data opens up revolutionary perspectives for patient care. With this in mind, the University of Padua in Italy organized a workshop aimed at exploring the impact of artificial intelligence on medicine, public health, and biostatistics in the African context.

Prof. Dr. Selain Kasereka, having worked for years in the field of artificial intelligence, mathematics and big data in order to solve public health problems, was invited to this workshop to share his experience. During his presentation at the University of Padova, he highlighted how the synergy of these three fields can transform the healthcare field. He stated during his presentation that AI, with its deep learning and machine learning algorithms, makes it possible to analyze massive volumes of health data, identify patterns and predict clinical outcomes with unprecedented accuracy. Mathematics, particularly statistics and predictive analytics, provides the necessary framework to interpret data and extract meaningful information. Big data, on the other hand, offers the ability to manage and analyze this information to facilitate real-time decision-making.

Prof. Kasereka illustrated how the application of these technologies can improve diagnosis, personalized treatment, and even hospital resource management. For example, predictive models can be used to anticipate epidemics, optimize care pathways, and reduce costs.

Furthermore, Prof. Kasereka emphasized the importance of ethics and data protection in this context. He called for appropriate regulations to ensure patient confidentiality while allowing for innovation while respecting individual rights.

Speaking about the African medical field, the presenter emphasized the challenges that must be addressed for AI to be effectively applied on this continent. These include poor digital infrastructure, difficult internet access, and the need for specialist training in data science, including artificial intelligence and related fields, as well as cybersecurity to be able to maintain future AI infrastructures.

Not to remain in theories, Prof. Kasereka exhibited four case studies that he conducted with his fellow researchers in the African medical landscape and published in international journals indexed WoS, Scopus, PubMed, etc. These studies were mainly focused on Tuberculosis, HIV and Covid-19. One of the works presented showed a new model for detecting pneumonia and Covid-19 from X-ray images using deep learning techniques.

Prof. Kasereka's presentation was enthusiastically received by the academic and medical community of this University, highlighting the urgency of integrating these tools into African health systems to improve the quality of care and the efficiency of health services.

Since the University of Padova has no collaboration with universities in the DRC, Prof. Selain Kasereka is therefore positioning himself as a bridge for a first partnership between this prestigious university and the University of Kinshasa for joint training, mobility of researchers/teachers and Master's and Doctoral students. In the near future, deserving students with a solid background will complete their theses jointly between the two universities, the result of a future collaboration.

It is worth noting that this Workshop brought together experts from various fields to discuss the opportunities, challenges, and strategies for implementing AI solutions to improve healthcare delivery in Africa. The University of Padua, as the organizer of this event, provides a platform for researchers to collaborate and share their results, and offers research opportunities in the field of AI and its applications in healthcare. The Doctoral Program in Translational Specialized Medicine “GB Morgagni” at the University of Padua is one such opportunity for researchers to pursue advanced studies in this field.