Dr. Anthony Mercando, director of AI strategy at White Plains Hospital.
WPHYSICIANASSOCIATES.ORG / COURTESY
Barbara Vasquez, Editor-in-Chief
Dr. Anthony Mercando ‘76 is returning to Manhattan University (MU) to headline the school’s inaugural ARCHtalk, with his lecture “AI in Health Care: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” to be held on Thursday, Feb. 26.
The talk will discuss the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the healthcare industry and the different perspectives that need to be considered when dealing with AI in any realm, but especially in a high-risk environment such as medicinal spaces.
Mercando, as a cardiologist of almost 40 years and the current director of AI strategy at White Plains Hospital, specializes in the intersection of the two areas. He shares that there are downsides to AI in the healthcare industry, but the potential for good still exceeds the bad.
“I hope to show everyone that the good is far outweighing the bad and the ugly, but these are the things that we have to worry about with AI, the things we need to be cognizant of in every aspect of AI,” Mercando said. “We need to learn about AI, because that’s the only way we’re going to know if we’re using it properly.”
The lecture is a part of the university’s ARCH (Analytics, Research, Creativity and Humanity) Innovation Exchange program. The program was created just last summer, according to associate provost Bridget Chalk, and focuses on developing a multidisciplinary approach to education amongst students.
“It was really intended, and remains, a framework for innovation, interdisciplinary learning and real world experience,” Chalk said. “We recognize that we have a lot of different kinds of programming all over campus that really coalesce with those three themes, and we feel that those bring a lot of value to our students’ education. So, we wanted to have a framework for not only bringing those things together and kind of highlighting those opportunities on campus, but also creating and fostering additional opportunities for students to be innovative.”
With his background in engineering and medicine, Chalk shares that Mercando is a great example of the teachings the ARCH program hopes to instill.
“He, in his entire career trajectory as well as what he’s specializing in now, really embodies what it means to have success come from a combination of different areas of focus in order to create the future,” Chalk said.
The program itself will also focus largely on AI, and preparing students for how to utilize it in a professional, ethical manner. Adriane Bilous, associate director of graduate studies and co-coordinator of this week’s ARCHtalk, spoke more on the hopeful impact of the ARCH program.
“I think it’s [AI] something we have to engage with, it’s not a matter of ‘do we want to,’ because it’s already happening,” Bilous said. “I think it’s in the best interest as a community to really learn how to use it effectively, ethically, especially as part of our Lasallian mission…With ARCH, it’s really about making sure our students are out ahead of it, so they’re more able to not just deal with it, but also learn from it and help others.”
Mercando hopes to emphasize his multidisciplinary approach to thinking within the students that do attend the event, especially when it comes to AI applications. He claims that MU has an advantage in this sense, due to the current curriculums offered at the university.
“This is where MU is going to shine, because MU has this built into it already,” Mercando said. “You’re learning about ethics, different cultures, religions – all of that has to come together, and MU is ready to do it because they’re doing it already, all you have to do is apply that in AI.”
While he was a student at MU, Mercando majored in electrical and electronics engineering. He became interested in the world of medicine and biomedical engineering specifically after taking an electrophysiology course, taught by Robert Mauro, Ph.D.
Mercando highlighted Mauro as a key role in setting the foundations of his education and career.
“He was my advisor, my mentor,” Mercando said. “He was important to me. I think that it’s important, if you are interested in doing something multidisciplinary, to get someone on the faculty who’s interested, who can guide you in doing that.”
When asked about the importance of cultivating students’ interests, even if they are interdisciplinary or unorthodox, Mauro shared his thoughts.
“If a student has a particular interest, and if I have some interest in it, then I will work with them to try to develop that,” Mauro said. “I think that’s a really important thing, because sometimes teachers like to think that they’re the only ones who understand stuff, and I am well aware that that’s not me. I always tell the students that I still learn a tremendous amount from listening to them and having them ask questions.”
In regards to Mercando himself, Mauro had high praise for his previous student.
“He was an incredible student, and he turned out to be an incredible doctor also,” Mauro said. “I think that’s a good thing to be able to say about people you’ve worked with.”
There are high hopes for Mercando’s lecture as well. For Bilous, this event not only marks the inauguration of the ARCHtalk series, but a change in attitude within the university as well.
“I think this is such an important event, because it really does showcase not just ARCH as a bigger set of programs or visions, but it’s also kind of a redefinition of MU,” Bilous said. “I think that’s what’s the most exciting about this.”