More than 400 experts gathered at Rice University to explore how artificial intelligence can be developed and used responsibly in health care and medical research, with a focus on ethics, transparency and trust.
The annual AI in Health conference, held on the Houston campus, brought together specialists to examine the technology as it reshapes medicine and research. Organizers said the event centered on how AI can be advanced in ways that prioritize responsible development.
Rice also highlighted a series of other research and campus developments in its latest news roundup. Statisticians at Rice, working with Cornell University, have developed a new method designed to find clearer answers in messy rankings data, research recently published in the Journal of Quantitative Analysis of Sports.
In medicine, Rice engineer Farshid Alambeigi is developing robotic technology that could one day help manufacture living tissue and functioning organs for transplantation. Separately, new research led by Allie Sinclair, an assistant professor of psychological sciences and director of Rice's Learning & Behavior Change Lab, found that people often misjudge their level of immunity to COVID-19, shaping their vaccine decisions.
On the materials front, a team of researchers has developed a softer, more flexible material that selectively transports lithium ions, offering a new approach to designing solid-state battery electrolytes that combine efficient ion transport with greater mechanical adaptability. Rice researchers also took part in an international team that identified more than 1,600 materials that could be twisted into new quantum systems.
Rice's upward momentum in global higher education continued, with a rise of two spots to No. 101 worldwide in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The university has climbed 46 places since 2023 in the annual rankings.
In athletics, President Reginald DesRoches said the university has formed a search committee and hired a search firm to begin recruiting Rice's next vice president and director of athletics. The Rice football team returns to Rice Stadium on Oct. 3 to open American Conference play against the University of Texas at San Antonio for Families Weekend.