Dr. Allison Sekuler is the President & Chief Scientist of the new Baycrest Academy for Research and Education at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care and of CABHI. She's devoted to developing breakthrough innovations for people with dementia and their caregivers by working with researchers and companies that utilize AI. We caught up with her to learn more about how AI experts and neuroscientists can work together to improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their caregivers.
How did you become interested in using AI in healthcare?
When I was a graduate student at UC Berkeley back in the late 1980s, connectionism was all the rage (one of my “intellectual godfathers” was David Rumelhart). Given my background in mathematics and psychology, and my research in aging, I developed an ongoing interest in using AI methods to explain brain function and dysfunction and enhance lives overall.
What excites you most about the possibilities of AI in medicine?
It’s amazing to see how far AI has taken us in some fields like cancer research. I get really excited thinking about what we could do if we applied the same focus to neuroscience. The field of predictive neuroscience is really the next frontier and could help people of all ages live their best possible lives. I’m also really excited by the possibilities of using AI in brain-controlled interfaces (BCI) to enhance the lives of older adults.
What's the biggest challenge you face in your work when it comes to AI?
Talent! I’m not an AI researcher, I’m AI-adjacent. But we really need collaborators and trainees with strong AI backgrounds who are interested in helping us make the most of these incredible data sets, and develop new ways to advance the work. Since we’re interested in integrating data across really broad ranges of data sets, this creates new challenges. We can't just use old plug-and-play methods.
What advice do you give to students who are following in your footsteps?
I was really lucky to come from a Liberal Arts background, where I pursued multiple areas of interest and learned to speak different disciplinary languages. I always advise students to learn how to communicate with a wide range of people to enable collaborations. I also advise them to read widely outside their fields and think about what will be possible in the future, not just what is possible today. In addition, I frequently tell my students to find their passion outside of their research. It’s never too late to do that—I started drumming in 2017 when I was 52, and just got my Professional Drum Certificate from the Berklee College of Music.
Are there any projects or initiatives you’re working on right now that you're really excited about?
Dr. Eugenie Roudaia and I jointly run the VisAge Lab at Baycrest that focuses on vision science and aging. We're really excited about the potential of the visual biomarkers we’ve found for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias—well before any memory symptoms appear. We’d love to bring in more AI experts to help advance that work and make the most of these data.
We’re also using electroencephalography (EEG) to assess vision and cognition in people with advanced dementia and others with communication problems. We’re keen to partner with AI researchers to share in real-time what people are feeling and develop new communication modes.
Finally, across Baycrest's Rotman Research Institute, TAHSN hospitals, UofT more generally, and national and international partners, we have a large group of folks who are committed to developing the field of predictive neuroscience for healthy aging. We welcome everyone who is interested in pioneering this area to join us in making the world a better place for all older adults and their caregivers.
