New Professorship for Jianxu Chen: AI for Biomedical Analytics

High-performance microscopes deliver high-resolution insights into tissues and cells, but who can analyse the resulting flood of complex image data? Dr Jianxu Chen has been appointed Professor of AI for Biomedical Analytics at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), conducting his research at the Leibniz-Institut für Analytische Wissenschaften – ISAS – e. V. in Dortmund and joined the TRR 332 for its second funding period in a new project.

"Machine learning algorithms can analyse thousands of microscope images within minutes and identify information that remains hidden from the human eye and brain," says Chen. The images are often three-dimensional, multi-channel and recorded over long periods; the art lies in finding the relevant patterns, such as the minimal differences between healthy and diseased cells. Together with his team, the computer scientist develops tailor-made AI software for specific biomedical questions, in close collaboration with research groups at Essen University Hospital, the UDE and ISAS.

He sees his work as a bridge between biomedicine and computer vision: "In practice, we achieve the best results when we can incorporate AI methods even before the imaging is planned." Chen studied mathematics in Hefei, earned his PhD at the University of Notre Dame, led machine learning for cell image analysis at the Allen Institute for Cell Science in Seattle, and has headed the AMBIOM junior research group at ISAS since 2021. With this appointment, made according to the Jülich model, UDE and ISAS continue their successful collaboration.

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