Senior academic appointment of clinical informatics in Australia

Beamtree and the University of Sydney are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Ben Hachey to the position of the Beamtree Associate Professor in Clinical Informatics. This role will see Dr Hachey lead research projects in applied AI for healthcare data in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney and lead the research efforts across several areas, including:

• New methods for making patient data available to support clinical decision support tools;
• Better mapping patient data to assist in research and clinical surveillance activities; and
• Applying machine learning and other data science models to patient data

Dr Ben Hachey is a leading Australian expert in product-driven AI development in health, including natural language processing and computer vision, and has 20 years of academic and industry experience in AI and Data Science and over 60 research outputs, many of which are focused on applications of AI in health. Ben previously held Head of Applied AI at Chief Data Scientist roles in industry, developing teams of highly performing AI and data science specialists and he co-developed the very successful Master of Data Science course at the University of Sydney.

This announcement is the next step in the ongoing partnership between the University of Sydney and Beamtree as they continue to push boundaries and discover new innovative uses of health data so that cutting-edge approaches to biomedical informatics and AI can support sustainable, high-quality health care around the world.

“Beamtree is a pioneer in AI decision support – working in more than 25 countries to improve health outcomes with world-leading innovation in data science. We are delighted to appoint Dr Ben Hachey as the Beamtree Associate Professor of Clinical Informatics, the first appointment of the new research team. Together with the University of Sydney, we remain committed to working together to discover new innovative approaches to biomedical informatics and how they can create a better future for health,” said Tim Kelsey, Beamtree CEO.

“After an international search the University of Sydney is proud to appoint Dr Ben Hachey as our Beamtree Associate Professor of Clinical Informatics, where he will work with the team in Biomedical Informatics and Digital Health to create new ways to use artificial intelligence in healthcare. Our partnership with Beamtree is ensuring we grow this vital area of research and development for Australia, with the capacity to commercialise in ways that maximise positive impacts on patient outcomes,” said Robyn Ward Executive Dean and Pro Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney.

“I am excited to collaborate with Beamtree and the University to drive innovation in clinical informatics,” says Dr Hachey. “My passion is amplifying human intelligence with AI, and I see a tremendous opportunity to equip providers and consumers with tools that enhance workflows, performance, and behaviour. Healthcare is the ideal domain for applied AI, not only for its potential to make a significant impact but also for its leadership in AI engineering best practices. Together, we will leverage the power of AI and deliver transformative solutions that benefit patients, providers, and society as a whole.”

Pictured: Dr Ben Hachey, Beamtree Associate Professor of Clinical Informatics