AI holds great promise in medicine, but awareness is key, according to Dr Taran Rai (MSc Data Science, 2017) a data scientist and AI/ML Engineer in the healthcare space. Taran lost his father to liver cancer in 2024 and wants to bring people the knowledge they need to protect their liver health.
“It was a short but brave battle that has had a profound impact on our family since his passing,” Taran Rai says. “We miss him a lot and each and every one of us has stepped up to fill the void he left in our lives in different ways.”
Taran’s father was diagnosed with advanced-stage liver cancer in April 2024, and he passed away in June 2024. According to Taran, the brevity of the illness was unexpected and made it difficult to come to terms with at times.
“We are learning to celebrate his life and are holding onto the memories that keep him close to our hearts.”
Losing his father to cancer hasinspired Taran to help others prevent a devastating illness.
“Liver cancer is one of the fastest growing cancers in the UK, and so it feels right to raise awareness,” Taran says. ”Many of the factors that contribute towards this disease are preventable, and so it is important to educate people about the risks and the steps they can take to protect their health.”
As a result, Taran volunteers with Nishkam SWAT, a charitable organisation based in West London with outreach programs across the UK and countries like India and Argentina. The organisation’s main focus is on tackling homelessness and providing healthcare, and it was recognised by the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2019.
“Through discussions with senior members of the charity, there is a growing interest in raising awareness of liver health,” Taran says. “We are aligned on many of the objectives I have proposed and are currently creating a plan to determine the best way to raise awareness.“
In addition to awareness, Taran, who has a PhD in Artificial Intelligence in Digital Pathology, believes technologies like AI and Machine Learning (ML) will be able to improve the outcomes of serious diseases in the future.
“AI holds great promise in medicine, particularly for cancer diagnostics. For example, in digital pathology, AI-powered tools can analyse digital biopsy images to detect subtle cancer patterns that might otherwise be missed by human observation.”
Before his PhD at University of Surrey, Taran completed an MSc in Data Science at City St George’s.
“I was already interested in big data and thought Machine Learning would be crucial for several industries in the future. I decided to leave my corporate job and upskill,” he says.
Taran’s decision proved to be the right one for him.
“From the very start, I felt that it was a pragmatic course with a good balance between theory and practical elements. Computer Vision, taught by Professor Greg Slabaugh at the time, was the module that inspired me to go further with doctoral research. I also found software agents, basically reinforcement learning, and neural computing to be really interesting.
“A lot of emphasis was placed on placements and internships which made the program feel very connected to the real-world and career opportunities. I also made many great friends and connections that have lasted to this day. It’s great to see how many of them have gone on to work in high-profile roles across various industries and leading tech companies.”
Taran is now an AI/ML Engineer at the Surrey DataHub, University of Surrey, which, according to their website, is “dedicated to innovation in animal health through cutting-edge data research, AI/ML exploration, and interdisciplinary cooperation”. Taran also remains involved in the topic of his PhD.
“I’m still tied to research which is focused on AI/ML applications in digital pathology, where I develop AI models to enhance diagnostics and analysis. Recently, I’ve been exploring generative and foundation models in this field, particularly their potential for augmenting datasets, improving image analysis, and automating image annotation.”
Although optimistic about AI and Machine Learning’s capabilities to transform industries like healthcare, finance and education, Taran does not see the benefits of rushing their implementation.
“Current capabilities are impressive, however, there are many challenges that remain—particularly in areas like interpretability (depending on who you ask), which is important for making AI decisions transparent and explainable,” he says.
“Also, current AI models aren’t infallible, and so their use should be heavily guard railed in high-stakes domains like medicine and finance where there is potential for harm.”
At the end of the day, the technology needs to become user-friendly enough to be handled and understood by those who aren’t trained engineers.
“It is important that clinicians find these AI applications practical and trustworthy for use in their practice.”
In the meantime, Taran hopes he can help people by sharing his knowledge and personal experience. He encourages all of us to advocate for our health, stay informed, seek timely care, and empower those around us to prioritise their mental and physical health too.
“Raising awareness is one way I can honour my father’s memory and ensure that others are provided with adequate info so that they don’t have to face the same heartache we as a family have faced. This cause is deeply personal, and so my family is committed to doing our part to make a difference.”
Thank you to Taran Rai for sharing his personal story and professional expertise.