institutions like MD Anderson are seeking out and identifying scientists with an aptitude for the translational process.
For example, applied scientists realize that technological innovations like genomic sequencing must be more than just a “science project,” she says.
“What is the infrastructure if you want genomic testing to be like CBC (complete blood count), CT scans,” she asks. “How do you use the information? How do you build, deliver, execute, and pay for it?”
For her part, Chin has been on both sides of the aisle, so to speak: a researcher during her time in New York and now at MD Anderson as well as an oncologist who treated patients for five years in private practice.
She joined MD Anderson in 2012, founded the department of genomics and started programs like IACS as well as began to leverage IBM Watson’s big data analytics and cognitive computing to aid physicians treating cancer patients. That project is called the Oncology Expert Advisor.
“OEA allows a practicing physician to make decisions based on today’s up-to-date knowledge rather than the knowledge base he or she was trained in,” she says. “Even if they are recently trained, humans forget things; machines don’t.”
The expert advisor program is part of MD Anderson’s ambitious “Moon Shots” program, which is designed to analyze healthcare data to evaluate new cancer therapies as well as biomarkers to guide treatment of eight types of cancer—acute myeloid leukemia, myelodysplastic syndrome, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, melanoma, lung cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, and so-called triple-negative breast cancer.
“Cognitive computing is a partnership, what a machine and human can do together and enhance the human’s capability,” she says.
Chin’s interest in innovation started young. In 1984, she snagged a semi-finalist position at the prestigious Westinghouse Science Competition, now known as the Intel Science Talent Search. She graduated magna cum laude from Brown University before attending medical school at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Today, in addition to her work at MD Anderson, she’s a frequent speaker at national conferences on the topic of the promise of technology in healthcare. As an innovation enthusiast, Chin emphasizes that the ultimate goal must still be on improving the patient’s health.
“We can have all the fancy apps, the cheapest tests available at Walgreens, but until you can affect outcomes, nothing will change,” she says. “The role of technology is always the enabler, not the solution. It’s not the end-game; it’s part of the ecosystem.”
