Jerusalem, Israel -  Sept. 29, 2020 - The fight against COVID-19, the novel coronavirus is entering a new phase, as people worldwide try to resume normal life alongside an invisible enemy. To help win this battle, experts are turning to a potentially potent weapon: Big Data and AI (Artificial Intelligence) with ML(Machine Learning). 

Multiple webinars with international experts have been held on Zoom and other online platforms. One such webinar, sponsored by JLM-BioCity was held between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The IGTCloud Online Conference on “How Big Data & AI Can Fight the COVID-19 Crisis” had as the featured speaker Dr. Paul Rothman, Dean, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; CEO, Johns Hopkins.

Dr. Rothman said that using data analytics with a physical exam, Hopkins medical teams can predict within 24 hours of admission those patients who will become extremely sick.

Prof. Itamar Grotto, Associate Director-General, Israel Ministry of Health reiterated the significance of fast detection and the use of robots to take vital signs and reduce the health risk of medical staff and overloading the system.

For those not familiar with AI, as a tool in predicting disease, look at Kira Radinsky, Chair & Chief Technology Officer at Diagnostic Robotics, who researched the EBOLA outbreak. From one 3-year-old child eating a bat, why only Angola and Bangladesh were affected she asked? Using her data analysis from the EBOLA studies, Radinsky was able to predict a cholera outbreak in Cuba, where the last one was 130 years prior. Now she is using her AI techniques for the coronavirus pandemic.

However fascinating the work with AI and ML, one of the most interesting and promising developments in these Israeli based science and health webinars is the open participation from UAE in the past two weeks. While multiple residents of the United Arab Emirates watched the JLMBio-City Zoom meeting, on other online webinars the UAE also presented.

Hearing about the UAE Healthcare Sector on a Zoom meeting hosted in Israel by Levi Shapiro, and UAE was eye-opening. In Abu Dhabi, for example, the facilities shown by Dr. Madhu Sasidhor, of the first global project of Cleveland Clinic were impressive. Dr. Haidar Al-Yousuf explained that since 2013, new health insurance coverage has changed the health scene in UAE. One example is using the database to predict diabetes in Dubai and catch diseases early and cut costs.

With AI we can beat COVID-19, predicts Dr.Tal Tova Patalon, of Maccabi Healthcare Service, Israel's second-largest HMO. 

The international cooperation and partnerships with the UAE, appear promising. As Dr. Rothman concluded, working in isolation won't work, sharing data is the key. The sharing of data for diagnostics, to predict who will get sick, that is the game-changer. 

The photo essay includes screenshots of the two events mentioned above.