HMS Biomedical Informatics Pioneer Named Editor-in-Chief of New AI Journal

Isaac Kohane will lead journal’s foray to illuminate pressing questions in the field of medical AI

by HMS COMMUNICATIONS HMS Community

3 min read

Photo of Isaac Kohane over a blue background
Isaac Kohane. Photo: Stephanie Mitchell/Background Image: metamorworks/iStock/Getty Images Plus

At a glance:

  • New journal aims to generate evidence for medical uses of AI
  • Properly evaluated AI tools can help inform clinical and regulatory decision-making, which ultimately benefits patients
  • HMS experts to steer new AI journal as part of journey to transform the field of clinical AI

Isaac Kohane, founding chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics (DBMI) in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, will be the inaugural editor-in-chief of NEJM AI, the new AI-themed journal from NEJM Group, the publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine.

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The mission of the new journal is to generate and publish rigorous evidence to help researchers, clinicians, health care leaders and policymakers in their efforts to harness the promise of AI to transform medicine. The content will aim to illuminate some of the most critical questions in the field of clinical AI by analyzing emerging evidence in a manner that can help inform clinical and regulatory decision-making.

“The field of AI has reached a crucial inflection point, and medicine can reap tremendous benefits from advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, as long as these advances are harnessed in an evidence-based, informed, safe, and ethical manner,” said Kohane. “The goal of NEJM AI is to help inform the field to do just that.

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“Some of the most pressing questions in medicine can be advanced through the application of AI in the clinic,” he added.

For example, which clinical trial is the best for a patient with a specific type of cancer, based on the tumor’s genetic profile and the patient’s medical history? Which recommended preventive medicine interventions should a patient consider? What is the best AI tool to discern benign skin lesions from the earliest cell mutations portending melanoma for individuals of all skin colors?

“Insights into these questions and evaluating rigorously the evidence behind AI tools that purport to address them can help propel the field of clinical AI forward and realize AI’s promise to benefit both patients and clinicians,” said Kohane.

Screenshot of Isaac Kohane
Isaac Kohane discusses efficacy testing of artificial intelligence widgets and his appointment as inaugural editor-in-chief of NEJM AI.

“There is an urgent need for a sophisticated understanding of the myriad applications of artificial intelligence in health care broadly and in clinical encounters specifically,” said George Q. Daley, dean of HMS. “This transformation must start with a rigorous assessment of AI’s promise and limitations in research and clinical care.”

In addition to evaluating emerging research and assessing the evidence behind clinical AI tools and applications, the journal will offer reviews, perspectives, and various educational materials to help inform practicing physicians, clinician leaders interested in applying AI, computer scientists seeking to translate algorithmic advances to clinical practice, and policymakers and regulators.

Several other DBMI faculty members will hold leadership roles at the new journal. Arjun Manrai and Andrew Beam will serve as deputy editors, and Pranav Rajpurkar and Marinka Zitnik will serve on the publication’s editorial board.

“The mission of Harvard Medical School is to generate knowledge for the benefit of humanity. The mission of the Department of Biomedical Informatics is to advance the field of artificial intelligence toward improving our understanding of disease, our ability to diagnose disease, and our ability to treat disease by individualizing treatments,” said Kohane. “NEJM AI will be the forum where much of this new knowledge will emerge and get evaluated to inform application on the front lines.”