In the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Health, it is proposed to “promote the application of artificial intelligence and other emerging information technologies to realize intelligent medical services, real-time monitoring and evaluation of personal health, disease early warning, and screening of chronic diseases". In order to fully respond to the policy, use medical and health big data, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to better solve medical problems and assist in diagnosis of oncology, and make greater contributions to improving people's health, the inaugural meeting of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology of Sichuan International Medical Exchange & Promotion Association (SCIMEA), sponsored by SCIMEA, was held in Chengdu on April 1, 2023.

Scene of the meeting

Prof. Liao Hu, Deputy Director of West China Hospital of Sichuan University presides over the inaugural meeting.

Ms. Zhang Mengfan, Secretary General of SCIMEA, Li Kang, a research fellow of West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Ma Xuelei, Deputy Director of West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Prof. Zhang Yi from University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Assoc. Prof. Xu Zhijie and Assoc. Prof. Yan Yuanliang from Xiangya Hospital Central South University, Assoc. Prof.  Huang Juan from Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Jiang Biaobin, a research fellow of Tencent AI Lab, Prof. Shi Hubing from West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Prof. Lian Zhong of Sichuan University, Assoc. Prof. Bu Linlin from Hospital of Stomatology Wuhan University, and Director Tong Yubo of SCIMEA attended this inaugural meeting.

Ma Xuefei, Deputy Director of West China Hospital of Sichuan University delivers a report on the preparatory work.

The first item of the inaugural meeting was a preparatory report by Deputy Director Ma Xuefei, one of the initiators of the Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Oncology of SCIMEA. Deputy Director Ma Xuelei mentioned that the incidence rate and mortality rate of malignant tumors in China are increasing continuously, and the annual medical expenses spent on malignant tumors exceed 220 billion yuan, which is a major social and scientific problem facing China and the world. In China, malignant tumor diagnosis and treatment suffers from the problems of few clinical visits of early stage cases, low early diagnosis rate and irregular clinical diagnosis and treatment of late stage cases. It is necessary to widely apply artificial intelligence to tumor segmentation, diagnosis and staging, and expand it to include prediction based on specific diseases and outcome prediction based on specific treatment modes. He hoped that through the establishment of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology, we can actively carry out academic exchanges, promote the technical development of AI in the field of oncology and expand its application scope, while strengthening the professional laddered talent training of AI in oncology-related fields in Sichuan, so as to jointly contribute wisdom and strength to the people's health.

Director Tong Yubo of SCIMEA organizes the election.

Later, Director Tong Yubo of SCIMEA organized the election of the committee and read out the results. And the leaders at all levels of the committee were elected at the scene according to the election provisions in the Articles of Association of Sichuan International Medical Exchange & Promotion Association. As a result, Li Kang, a research fellow from West China Hospital of Sichuan University was elected as honorary chairman, Deputy Director Ma Xuelei as chairman, 6 experts including Huang Juan and Liao Hu as deputy chairmen, 21 experts including Bai Maoshu and Bu Linlin as members of the standing committee, 72 experts including Cai Lulu and Cai Yi as members, and Guo Wen, Li Qingfang and Xia Fan as secretaries.

Secretary General Zhang Mengfan reads out and awards the approval for the establishment of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology.

Secretary General Zhang Mengfan read out the “Approval for the Establishment of the Special Committee on Special Committee on AI and Oncology of Sichuan International Medical Exchange & Promotion Association”, and awarded the approval for the establishment to the newly-elected chairman Ma Xuelei.

Secretary General Zhang Mengfan awards the letter of appointment to the Honorary Chairman Li Kang.

Secretary General Zhang Mengfan award the letter of appointment to the Chairman Ma Xuelei.

Honorary Chairman Li Kang and Chairman Ma Xuelei award the letters of appointment to the deputy chairmen.

Chairman Ma Xuelei, Deputy Chairman Huang Juan and Deputy Chairman Liao Hu award the letters of appointment to the members of the standing committee. 

Chairman Ma Xuelei, Deputy Chairman Xu Zhijie and Deputy Chairman Zhang Yi award the letters of appointment to the members of the standing committee.

Honorary Chairman Li Kang awards the letters of appointment to the secretaries.

Honorary Chairman Li Kang of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology delivers a speech.

Honorary Chairman Li Kang expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the leaders of SCIMEA for their strong support and to all peers for their care and help in the preparation of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology. He mentioned that in the past decade, deep learning algorithms, advances in computing hardware and the growth of clinical data have attracted the strong interest of medical scientists and doctors in the application of AI in medicine. The establishment of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology is just in time and serves as a good platform to strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation, promote the application of AI technology in the field of oncology, and provide personalized medical decisions for patients. It is worthy of attention that the research and formulation of relevant laws and ethics should also be strengthened to ensure that the application of AI technology in the field of oncology complies with moral, social and ethical norms, and to maximize the protection of the rights and interests of relevant personnel.

Chairman Ma Xuelei of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology delivers a speech.

Chairman Ma Xuelei spoke on behalf of all members of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology. Ma Xuelei expressed his sincere thanks to the SCIMEA, the experts in the preparatory group and the participating experts for their support to the establishment of the committee. He also mentioned that in recent years, AI technologies have been widely used in various industries, especially in medical and pharmaceutical fields, and are expected to help clinical intervention decision management and clinical evaluation. In addition, he noted that the committee should, based on the national strategic needs, promote the optimization and combination of innovation systems, aim at the frontier areas to expand the scope of application, strengthen the training of talents and interdisciplinary cooperation, facilitate the in-depth combination of AI and oncology research and the translation of clinical value in Sichuan and western China, and form a  platform-based  committee with specialty-specific thorough knowledge, proper innovation, close attention to translation and diversified development.

Secretary General Zhang Mengfan of SCIMEA delivers a speech.

Secretary General Zhang Mengfan of SCIMEA warmly congratulated on the establishment of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology.

Group photo of member representatives of the committee

The establishment of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology will build a professional academic platform for practitioners in the field of AI and oncology, discuss the latest progress and new achievements in the field, and promote AI to take root in the medical field for the benefit of patients and society through the multi-wheel drive of industry, academia, research and education in the period of rapid development of national informatization.

Annex: Member List of the Special Committee on AI and Oncology