MBZUAI will graduate its first three Ph.D. students on June 6, 2024. Numan Saeed's research focused on using AI and big data to diagnose head and neck cancers using PET and CT scans, aided by NLP to interpret doctors' notes. The graduates will remain in the UAE to contribute to the country's growing AI sector. Why it matters: This milestone highlights the growing AI talent pool in the UAE and the potential for AI research at MBZUAI to address critical healthcare challenges.
MBZUAI awarded its first Ph.D. to Numan Saeed for his dissertation, "Deep Learning for Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis." Saeed's research explores using deep learning models to diagnose tumors and predict survival rates for head and neck cancers by interpreting PET and CT scan imagery and doctor's notes. The AI model considers variables like age, gender, and tumor size to improve diagnosis, especially in regions with limited oncological services. Why it matters: This milestone highlights MBZUAI's growing role in AI research and its potential to contribute to advancements in AI-driven healthcare solutions, particularly for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Muhammad Arslan Manzoor became MBZUAI's first NLP Ph.D. graduate, focusing his research on media bias under Professor Preslav Nakov. His thesis, 'MGM,' explored using audience overlap graphs to predict the factuality and bias of news media, an approach that differs from traditional textual analysis. Manzoor's work aims to improve the efficiency of media profiling in real-time by leveraging relationships captured in media graphs. Why it matters: This research offers innovative methods for identifying bias in news, which is crucial for promoting informed social discourse and combating disinformation in the region.
MBZUAI students Hanoona Bangalath and Muhammad Maaz, with perfect GPAs, had papers accepted at ECCV 2022 ("Class-agnostic Object Detection with Multi-modal Transformer") and NeurIPS 2022 ("Bridging the Gap between Object and Image-level Representation for Open-Vocabulary Detection"). Both will stay at MBZUAI for their PhDs, crediting the university's resources and faculty. Their supervisor, Salman Khan, praised their curiosity and hard work, highlighting their role in building the institution's reputation. Why it matters: The success of these students underscores MBZUAI's potential to foster high-quality AI research and attract top talent to the UAE.
MBZUAI's inaugural class included eight Emirati master's graduates in computer vision and machine learning, making up 15% of the Class of 2022. All eight have secured employment or will pursue Ph.D. studies at MBZUAI, contributing to healthcare, technology, energy, transport, and government sectors in the UAE. Fatima Albreiki and Wafa Al Ghallabi will continue at MBZUAI for Ph.D. studies in Computer Vision. Why it matters: MBZUAI is nurturing local AI talent to support the UAE's national strategy and address global challenges in key sectors.