CC* CIRA: Mid-TN AI for Interdisciplinary Imaging Interpretation Alliance

This project facilitates new regional collaborations in middle Tennessee centered on artificial intelligence (AI) for imaging. A primary goal of these planning and coordination project is to facilitate connections between research-focused institutions and minority serving institutions by hosting community events, training and tutorial workshops for students, and sharing computational resources for both pedagogy and research activities. Through the Mid-TN AI for Interdisciplinary Imaging Interpretation Alliance (AI4A), the project identifies, characterizes, and enables drivers of imaging AI science and the capacity for such science across the AI4A. A critical component of this project is the development of human infrastructure and interconnections. AI4A hosts summer faculty fellowships to seed collaborations, and summer student opportunities to engage with pre-doctoral trainees in collaboration with existing REU programs such as the Fisk Bridge NSF REU. AI4A develops training materials for the technical skills required in AI-imaging, including GPU computing, deep learning concepts and practice, and current computing environments for high performance computing. AI4A also provides access to these devices and environments to support research collaborations and to provide practical experience for students in the development and validation of large models. The project facilitates the emergence of de novo research directions, but based on the current research foci of participants, and based around imaging problems in radiology, neurology and neuroscience, cell microscopy, ecology and remote sensing, transportation, materials engineering, archeology, digital anthropology, and deep networks. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.