The Rhode Island AI for Health (RI-AI4H) Data Challenge and Datathon are designed to bring transdisciplinary teams together to build community-engaged AI to address healthcare challenges faced by Rhode Islanders. Working with SyntheticRI (a synthetic dataset designed to reflect the demographics, health conditions, and lived realities of Rhode Island communities), teams will develop and propose a practical, implementable AI solution to a healthcare challenge in the Ocean State. 

The event is organized into two parts: (1) Data Challenge (June 8 to July 6) where teams will develop AI solutions for a healthcare challenge using SyntheticRI and (2) Datathon (July 22-23) where the top-scoring teams will be invited to further refine their solutions based on expert and community feedback.

Teams are encouraged to focus on AI-driven solutions related to the following high-mortality clinical themes:

• Cardiovascular Disease & Hypertension: Tools and approaches that improve risk identification, prevention, and management of cardiovascular conditions across Rhode Island communities.
• Cancer Prevention & Early Detection: Innovations that support screening, early detection, awareness, and equitable access to cancer prevention resources.

Community Focus Highlight: Priority will be given to projects addressing health challenges affecting Hispanic/Latino communities and other underserved populations in Rhode Island.

Participants can include students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty, as well as healthcare professionals, data scientists, AI developers, and community members. The symposium is designed to foster transdisciplinary collaboration across academic, clinical, technical, and community perspectives to advance community-engaged AI solutions for health.

Participation Requirements:

• Teams must consist of 2 to 5 members.
• All participants must be at least 18 years of age.
• Individuals may participate on only one team.
• Teams are strongly encouraged to include community members, clinicians, or public health practitioners to support meaningful community engagement and transdisciplinary collaboration.

Projects will be evaluated by a transdisciplinary jury of clinicians, community members, and academic researchers based on:

• Community relevance and engagement
• Potential real-world impact
• Innovation and creativity
• Technical quality
• Feasibility

Awards & Recognition:

• The winning and runner-up teams will receive cash prizes.
• The top five teams will be recognized.

This event is organized by the Brown Center for Biomedical Informatics and Advance RI-CTR with funding from the National Institute for General Medical Science at the National Institutes of Health (U54GM115677).

Contact us at bcbi@brown.edu