Please join us for a Joint GWU/Washington DC VA Informatics Seminar taking place Wednesday, October 22nd, 11:00am - 12:00pm Eastern Daylight Time. Linda Zanin, Ed.D., Senait Tekle, Ph.D., and Stephen Chua, B.S. of the Biomedical Informatics Center at the George Washington University will present:
The ArtAI Initiative
ArtAI is a collaborative initiative between SPARC (Specially Adapted Resource Centers) and The George Washington University Biomedical Informatics Center, supported by the NIH AIM-AHEAD Consortium. The project harnesses generative AI tools to enable visual art, music, and storytelling for adults with severe and multiple disabilities. Through collaboration with caregivers, therapists, and community health partners, ArtAI brings accessible creative expression to those often excluded from traditional art making, while promoting emotional well-being and self-expression. The presentation will include project background, examples of participant artwork and feedback, and an interactive session where in-person attendees can explore generative AI tools. The session will also highlight the collaborative process between SPARC and the GW team, describe the co-design and pilot phases, and share early findings on how AI-assisted art supports creative expression and well-being among individuals with severe and multiple disabilities.
Dr. Zanin is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Biomedical Informatics Center. Linda began her career in education over 30 years ago and has amassed professional experience in leading new initiatives, fostering government relations, developing community engagement, undertaking stakeholder outreach, enhancing professional development, and advancing interdisciplinary research, implementation, data analysis, and evaluation. Linda believes it is necessary to include diverse stakeholders with broad perspectives of practice when building sustainable cross-stakeholder networks and partnerships. She has a passion for grass-roots approaches to community engagement and feels it is critical to involve all stakeholders equally so diverse communities of interests have a voice in helping shape the direction of emerging initiatives.
Dr. Tekle is a postdoctoral researcher specializing in implementation science. She earned her Ph.D. in Prevention Science from Washington State University and an M.A. in International Business Management from the University of Westminster, UK. Her work focuses on adapting and evaluating health interventions, with a focus on trustworthy AI and ethics. She is involved in several NIH projects.
Mr. Chua is a research associate and data analyst at the Biomedical Informatics Center. He graduated from Wheaton College with a B.S. in Biology and is currently working on a Master’s in Health Sciences in Biomedical Informatics. His work involves research administration, data analysis, and coordination of research studies.