AI Foundations Lab | BORN Ontario

Governed by CHEO’s framework for leading responsibly with AI, BORN’s AI Foundations Lab sits at intersection of artificial intelligence, population screening, and perinatal/child health – spanning theoretical frameworks to practical implementation:

We develop novel artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methodologies, specializing primarily in robust, interpretable AI (e.g., XAI), and equity-driven solutions that address complex challenges in early life health outcomes.

We leverage BORN’s population-based data assets (>2 million linkable perinatal/child records for nearly every birth in Ontario since 2012) and an on-prem high-performance computing cluster to develop and train machine learning models

Our research spans pregnancy through early childhood, addressing critical challenges in maternal-newborn health surveillance, risk assessment, and outcome prediction.

We are developing large language models that operate within our protected environment and facilitate registry operations.

We maintain the highest standards of privacy and ethical use and are committed to developing AI solutions that work for the diverse populations and communities we serve through careful consideration of bias, fairness, and accessibility.

Dr. Kevin Dick is BORN’s AI Data Scientist and leads a lab that addresses central challenges for machine learning models in perinatal and child health:

Outcome rarity: health conditions of interest are often rare by machine learning standards (prevalence <10%).
Trust and equity: integrating explainable AI and equity considerations into modelling frameworks to foster trust and equity.
Data privacy and cost-effectiveness: creating integrated, privacy-first AI infrastructure through federated learning, multimodal development, and cryptographic ML methods.

Dr. Christine Armour is BORN’s co-Medical Director for Prenatal Screening Ontario. Her research aims to improve population-based screening through the application of novel data science and machine learning approaches to large scale data assets such as those held at BORN. Funded by the PSI Foundation and Precision Child and Youth Mental Health Collaboratory, she works with the BORN AI Foundations lab to develop machine learning models in perinatal and child health, predicting conditions and outcomes such as autism spectrum disorder, aneuploidy, and preterm birth.

Dr. Mark Walker is BORN’s Scientific Director.

As a prescribed registry, BORN is uniquely positioned to also deploy AI models and improve care and outcomes across Ontario, leveraging Prenatal Screening Ontario’s provincial oversight role and through BORNConnect, which is building a digital, interoperable, and intelligent perinatal record for the province.