Computer scientist Mark Dredze has been named the inaugural director of the Johns Hopkins University’s Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Institute, DSAI for short.
Dredze, the university’s John C. Malone Professor of Computer Science, has been a member of Hopkins’ faculty since 2009 and is considered a pioneer in the application of artificial intelligence for language analysis to public health and medicine.
He has been serving as DSAI’s interim deputy director and was selected following an international search. According to The Hub, Hopkins’ new source, his appointment as director is effective Nov. 1 and he will build his core leadership team in the coming months.
Hopkins President Ron Daniels announced plans in 2023 to create an institute dedicated to “harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to translate data-driven discovery into real-world impact.”
The university’s goal is to bring together world-class experts in artificial intelligence, data science, machine learning, applied mathematics, computer engineering, and computer science “to fuel data-driven discovery and innovation in research activities across the institution, from neuroscience and public health to national security and societal safety to space systems and materials science.”
The institute will be housed in a two-building complex that Hopkins is aiming to complete by 2029 on both sides of the 200 block of Wyman Park Drive, between San Martin Drive and Remington Avenue.
“Mark exemplifies the pioneering and interdisciplinary ethos central to the mission of DSAI, pursuing research defined by a deep commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration, data-driven discovery, and impactful problem-solving,” Daniels and Hopkins Provost Ray Jayawardhana wrote in a message to the university community.
“His selection reaffirms not only the university’s position as a destination for world-class talent in data science and artificial intelligence, but also the remarkable expertise within our own faculty.”
According to The Hub, Dredze is internationally recognized for his work utilizing machine learning and natural language processing tools to gain insights from social media data that enhance society’s understanding of human behavior and inform public health policy and interventions.
This work dates back to 2011, when Dredze led a team that released one of the first and most comprehensive studies showing that data from Twitter (now called X) can yield useful and actionable public health information, including forecasting the spread of seasonal flu across the U. S. In 2018, his work demonstrated how foreign actors were weaponizing health communication within the U. S. around the vaccine debate.
As one of the founders of this growing area of data informatics research, the Hub said, Dredze and his work have provided critical insights into a range of topics, including suicide prevention; vaccine hesitancy; HIV; tobacco; mental health; gun violence and other public health issues. In 2017, he co-authored Social Monitoring for Public Health, one of the first books surveying this then-nascent field. More recently, he has pioneered applications of large language models, such as ChatGPT, in medicine. His 2023 study demonstrated the power of AI-enabled chatbots in delivering high-quality medical information to patients.
According to The Hub, Dredze earned bachelor’s degrees in computer science and computer engineering from Northwestern University, holds a master’s in Modern Jewish History from Yeshiva University, and completed his PhD in computer science at the University of Pennsylvania in 2009. He is the author or co-author of more than 350 scholarly publications, and his work is routinely covered by major media outlets. He has also spent time as a software engineer and researcher at Microsoft, IBM and Google.
Dredze is affiliated with several Hopkins centers, including the Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare; the Center for Language and Speech Processing, and the Human Language Technology Center of Excellence. He’s also affiliated with Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory and holds a joint appointment in the School of Medicine’s Biomedical Informatics & Data Science section in the Department of Medicine within the Division of General Internal Medicine.
“Mark’s outstanding body of research accomplishment, his ability to identify and act on opportunities — from identifying new data sources to developing innovative applications that address real and pressing societal problems — and his skill at building partnerships make him an ideal leader for this effort,” said Ed Schlesinger, dean of Hopkins’ Whiting School of Engineering, according to The Hub. “Mark has been integral to the DSAI’s success, and his vision and reputation will enable us to further advance our efforts, attract the most qualified and innovative faculty and students, and maximize our impact on JHU and the world.”
As DSAI’s interim deputy director, Dredze has briefed congressional staffers and reporters on the power and potential of artificial intelligence and has played a critical role in faculty recruitment. In August, the institute announced the arrival of 22 new faculty members, with expertise ranging from computer vision and medical image analysis to robotics and machine learning, large language models and generative AI to neural modeling and quantum mechanics.
These scholars join more than 150 DSAI-affiliated faculty members across Johns Hopkins in advancing the study of data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence and translating that work to a range of critical and emerging fields. In all, 80 new affiliated faculty — nearly half of which have already been hired — are projected to join the Whiting School to support the institute’s pursuits, in addition to 30 new Bloomberg Distinguished Professors with cross-disciplinary appointments to ensure that scholars across the university can draw on the institute’s expertise.
“I welcome this unique opportunity to transform the university for the age of AI, which necessitates building a strong core as well as partnerships throughout the institution,” The Hub quoted Dredze as saying. “We need to develop fundamental methods and explore new applications to meet the critical societal challenges of the future.”
And this is what we are ripping out 100 trees for? SMH