Centre for AI, Data Science, and Imaging

Centre for AI, Data Science, and Imaging

Transforming care through innovation, data, and equity
The Center for AI, Data Science, and Imaging is redefining how cardiac care is delivered by combining cutting-edge artificial intelligence, advanced imaging, and data sciences to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of heart disease across British Columbia and beyond.

Innovation Rooted in Real-World Impact
The Centre’s work builds on years of leadership in data-driven analytics and imaging. More recently, the Centre has added genomics to its core capabilities, opening new frontiers in precision health and personalized medicine. From predictive risk modeling to AI-powered diagnostics, the Centre focuses on finding solutions that make a difference in real lives, in real communities.

A Truly Multidisciplinary Team
The multidisciplinary team brings together experts including cardiologists, engineers, data scientists, genomic researchers, rural and Indigenous health providers, family doctors, and allied health professionals. It works closely with patient partners across all health authorities to ensure that its work stays grounded in lived experience.

Advancing Equity Through Technology
A patient’s geographical location should not determine the quality of care they receive. Through the use of AI and remote imaging technologies, the Centre strives to reach underserved communities, from rural and remote regions to long-term care homes and marginalized urban populations. With these tools, the earlier detection of heart disease, support for clinical decisions, and personalized care based on a patient’s genetics, imaging results, and environment are made possible.

Precision Health, Personalized for Everyone
The Centre’s team is passionate about understanding the heart and how its size, shape, function, stiffness, and contractility, combined with genomic and environmental data, can predict the risk for heart attacks, stroke, and arrhythmias. With this insight, clinicians can intervene earlier and tailor care more effectively. It has the talent, data, infrastructure, and visionary leadership to make this future a reality.

Powered by Partnership
The clinical and research work done at the Centre is made possible by strong collaborations with health authorities, academic institutions, Indigenous communities, donors, and patient partners who share the Centre’s vision. These partnerships help shape a healthier, more equitable future for British Columbians and build models of care with global relevance.

Bringing AI to the heart of cardiac care

“The integration of AI in cardiac imaging has transformative potential, what used to only be possible in major health care centres, can now be done virtually anywhere. It’s about ensuring equitable, timely and accurate diagnoses for patients regardless of where they live, and ultimately improving heart health outcomes across B.C.” — Dr. Tsang

Dr. Teresa Tsang

Dr. Teresa Tsang is a Canadian and American board-certified cardiologist and internal medicine specialist, as well as the Director of Echocardiography at Vancouver General Hospital and University of British Columbia Hospital. As the leader of the VGH-UBC AI Echo Core Lab and Director of the Centre for AI, Data Science, and Imaging, Dr. Tsang is passionate about using AI to democratize, and enhance access to echo imaging across B.C., particularly for those in underserved regions.

In addition to echocardiography, Dr. Tsang’s other research areas include the prediction and prevention of atrial fibrillation, heart failure, atrial remodelling and reversal, diastolic dysfunction, and stroke. She is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute (VCHRI) funded investigator. Dr. Tsang received her medical training at the University of Alberta, where she also completed fellowships in internal medicine, and cardiology. She completed additional fellowships in clinical epidemiology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and advanced echocardiography at the Mayo Clinic. She holds the distinction of being a Mayo Foundation Scholar.

She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Society of Echocardiography and is a member of the British Columbia Law Institute Artificial Intelligence and Civil Liability Committee.

Dr. Christina Luong

Dr. Christina Luong is a clinical assistant professor within the Division of Cardiology at the University of British Columbia and the Head of Stress Echocardiography at Vancouver General Hospital. She is also the co-lead of the VGH-UBC AI Echo Core Lab. In addition to being an expert in cardiac ultrasound imaging, she also practices general cardiology and provides services for the VGH STAT clinic and inpatient consultation service. Her research interests include developing and applying deep learning models to echocardiography, as well as cardiac point-of-care ultrasound. She is a CIHR funded investigator and was the recipient of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and HLS Therapeutics Atherosclerosis Research Award in 2022.

Dr. Luong is a graduate of the University of Alberta medical school and the UBC Internal Medicine and Cardiology fellowship programs. She completed advanced fellowships in echocardiography at VGH and the Mayo Clinic as well as a Master of Health Science at UBC. She holds the distinction of being a Friedman Scholar.

Dr. Luong currently serves on the board of the Canadian Society of Echocardiography.

Current Research Studies

Complete TAVR

Staged Complete Revascularization for Coronary Artery Disease vs Medical Management Alone in Patients With AS Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Automated LVEF

Automated LVEF in Heart Function Clinic: AI-augmented point of care ultrasound. Validating the user of an Artificial Intelligence application to assess image quality and left ventricular ejection fraction in echocardiography, a prospective analysis. Big data and artificial intelligence for risk stratification of patients with COVID-19 symptoms using heart-lung ultrasound.

Point of Care Heart-Lung Imaging

Point of Care heart-lung imaging for patients presenting with COVID-19 symptoms: artificial intelligence precision modeling for prediction of outcomes. Artificial intelligence models for enhancement of LV assessment.

Beyond Atrial Fibrillation

Using Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Imaging to improve Stroke Risk Assessment and Management. Prevalence and Progression of Tricuspid Regurgitation in Patients with Longstanding Persistent Atrial Fibrillation.

Fabry Disease Screening

Fabry Disease Screening in the Echo Lab: Dried blood spot testing to screen for Fabry disease in patients with increased LV wall thickness identified in the echo lab.

Information Fusion for Echocardiography (INFUSE)

A Novel Platform for Automatic Analysis of Echocardiography Data at Any Point-Of-Care.