Invited speech and transfer of knowledge in the context of VIRTUOUS project. Professor Rocio Romero Zaliz of the University of Granada talked about "Fusion of knowledge in medicine" on July 13, 2023 at the Industrial Systems Institute.

Speech abstract : Medication information, including dosage and other related details, are essential components in the study of a patient's medical history and current condition. Proper diagnosis and treatment depend on a clear understanding of a patient's medication usage and potential impact on their health. However, this information is often recorded using commercial names or specific drugs and forms of administration, making it challenging to classify patients using this data. By leveraging natural language processing and ontological information, it becomes feasible to integrate medication data with diverse sources like genetics, demographics, and imaging tests, thereby enhancing patient care. This talk will showcase two real-world cases where this approach empowered both experts and data scientists to gain valuable insights from their data.

Rocío Romero-Zaliz is a senior researcher with a diverse interdisciplinary background. She obtained her PhD in Computer Science, specializing in Bioinformatics, from the University of Granada (UGR, Spain) in 2005, following her undergraduate studies in Computer Science at the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). She has published over 40 scientific publications in various journals, achieving an H-index of 21. Over the past decade, her research has encompassed a wide range of scientific fields, including physics, mathematics, cartography, biology, and medicine, among others. She has collaborated with various national and international research groups, engaging in numerous projects involving both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. One of the most prolific research lines is related to the analysis of GWAS applied to psychiatry and personalized medicine in humans. Besides her research endeavors, she has excelled in her teaching role in both undergraduate and graduate courses. She has supervised a large number of end-of-degree projects and participated in projects focused on innovation in university education. In the past few years, she has directed her efforts towards outreach activities, serving on the dissemination and communication committee of the Andalusian Research Institute in Data Science and Computational Intelligence (DaSCI Institute). Her contributions and expertise have been recognized, as she has been selected to serve on the steering committee of the Research Centre for Information and Communications Technologies (CITIC-UGR). Her diverse background, extensive research experience, and dedication to academia and outreach make her an experienced speaker. She possesses the remarkable ability to simplify complex concepts, making them accessible and relatable to her audience while effortlessly sharing her knowledge and passion for interdisciplinary research.