The first official meeting of the University’s Advisory Board has been held at UniCamillus. Set up last April, the Advisory Board includes Andrea Biondi, Vito Cozzoli, Maria Bianca Farina, Giuseppe Feltrin, Luciana Lamorgese, Gianni Letta and Tiziano Onesti. They work alongside Rector Gianni Profita to guide our University in developing new academic and scientific strategies. On this occasion, the Advisory Board met with experts from both the academic sector and the technology and biomedical industries. This was also the focus of the event’s thematic session: ‘New Horizons of AI in Education and Healthcare’, one of the most topical and transformative subjects in science and society today.
The event was opened by the Rector Gianni Profita and Professor Donatella Padua, Secretary General of the Advisory Board and Delegate for the Third Mission. The debate consisted of both theoretical considerations and practical demonstrations.
The latest AI innovations in education
During the conference, Massimo Giannessi—a biomedical engineer and Chief Operating Officer with Accurate Srl, a leading Italian company in advanced medical simulation—presented Involve XR. This is an advanced virtual reality application for simulating collaborative clinical cases, in which artificial intelligence assists resident doctors in managing virtual patients remotely. This tool offers interesting prospects for academic training, as it enables multiple students to participate in the virtual environment simultaneously, providing them with the opportunity to practise realistic clinical scenarios in a safe and interactive setting, thereby enhancing their decision-making abilities and fostering teamwork.
AI and neurosurgery: safer and more precise interventions with neuronavigation
Dr Stefano Signoretti, Professor of Neurosurgery at UniCamillus and Director of the Neurosurgery unit at ASL Roma 2, demonstrated how AI tools in neurosurgery can revolutionise the radiological view of the brain and the resulting surgical interventions, while also becoming exceptionally valuable teaching tools.
One such technology is neuronavigation, which uses artificial intelligence algorithms to help plan the precise route to the area of the brain to be treated surgically, selecting the areas to be operated on while avoiding damage to important neural structures. During surgery, surgeons can see their movements inside the brain in real time. This enables deep lesions to be removed more safely, reducing any margin of error, hospitalisation times as well as complication rates.
A second application of AI involves 3D reconstruction of nerve fibre bundles by reprocessing raw MRI data obtained using the DWI-DTI technique, a process known as fibre tracking. The Fibertracking System is an innovative, AI-based technology that creates highly detailed images of nerve fibres in the brain. These images show connections between different brain areas and cannot be obtained using traditional techniques. This new vision could transform the study of the brain, greatly enhancing students’ education.
Combining the above applications makes it possible to use special AI navigation to project the generated fibre bundles into the surgical field in augmented reality. During navigation, the nerve fibres to be spared and the lesions to be treated can be clearly distinguished.
The advent of these AI tools in neurosurgery represents a considerable breakthrough in both training and clinical practice. Not only is it possible to train students in a more comprehensive and participatory manner, but it is also possible to operate on patients with excellent precision. Everything can be planned first virtually and then in real life, predicting possible outcomes. This allows deciding whether and how to operate, saving valuable time and resources.
AI and aggressive neoplasms: early detection of nodules invisible to the human eye
Giada Bernardini, a biomedical engineer and Strategic Account Manager at Siemens Healthineers, presented the development of AI in diagnostic imaging. This technology assists medical practitioners in identifying even the most challenging diseases at an early stage, including small breast and lung nodules that are frequently undetectable to the naked eye.
This is a highly relevant issue, considering that there were 55,900 new cases of breast cancer in Italy in 2023—6–7% of which were already metastatic at the time of diagnosis—and that since 1989, this form of cancer has caused 370,000 deaths in Europe. Given that AI is now thought to detect even minimal breast thickening, it can favour early diagnosis and far greater chances of a full recovery.
The same applies to lung cancer, which caused 5,000 deaths worldwide in 2020. Lung cancer patients develop metastases in 55% of cases, and the 5-year survival rate for stage IV patients is just 6%. AI-powered diagnostic tools could detect the disease as early as stage I, increasing their 5-year survival rate to 90%.
Such data illustrates how these technologies can improve quality of life and preserve patient survival.
Dr Bernardini also presented the concept of the Digital Twin—a personalised digital model of an organ. This can be used to predict disease progression and test bespoke treatments without any risk. Currently, prototypes are available for the heart, liver, and brain, but the ultimate goal is to replicate each anatomical element in a fully customised manner.
Systematic reviews: the value of AI for researchers
Professor Andrea Romigi, Lecturer in Neurology at UniCamillus and Director of the Centre for Sleep Medicine at IRCCS Neuromed Level II, concluded this round of presentations. During the session, he presented the practical application of AI in systematic reviews through platforms such as Rayyan, Elicit and Consensus, which are already integrated into university teaching. Systematic reviews are analyses that collect and compare the results of several scientific studies on a given topic in order to draw conclusions based on experimental evidence.
Rayyan is a platform designed for the manual selection, organisation and analysis of large quantities of scientific articles. It is ideal for those who need to collaborate on reviews, even offline. Elicit, on the other hand, automates several stages of systematic reviews, such as searching, data extraction and information synthesis, thereby speeding up researchers’ work. Finally, Consensus is an AI-based search engine that provides quick and concise answers from scientific studies, facilitating the retrieval of specific information.
These platforms support the training of students and postgraduates by accelerating and refining research activities, facilitating critical analysis of scientific literature, and providing immediate access to current and reliable information. Research is fundamental for students because it stimulates critical thinking and keeps them informed about new discoveries, helping them to develop indispensable skills for a truly informed medical profession.
AI in medical education: a scientific and ethical revolution
“Artificial intelligence will have an increasingly profound impact on the organisation of medical universities, as well as on teaching, research and clinical practice. It is essential that we teach our students how to use and understand AI, and how to use it critically”, said Rector Profita. “We really want to invest in this area. Today, we are beginning to explore this potential together, and I invite you all to join us with the curiosity and enthusiasm of those who are looking to the future with fresh eyes. Together with Professor Padua, we have developed a series of ideas to discuss, thanks also to the presence of our extraordinary guests”.
“AI is playing an increasingly important role in training doctors and healthcare professionals, radically transforming content, teaching methods and values. In some cases, it is a true educational revolution that translates into the medical profession, bringing new approaches to personalised care, precision and prevention that improve people’s health”, said Professor Padua. “We need new ethical and critical awareness to guide the responsible use of these technologies in academic and clinical contexts”.
According to the Secretary General of the UniCamillus Advisory Board, there are three aspects in which AI becomes part of educational programmes: skills, with programmes that integrate medicine, data science and engineering; teaching methods, such as virtual simulation or personalised learning; and ethics, with a focus on privacy, bias, the correct use of LLMs (Large Language Models) and the reduction of global gaps between AI-intensive countries and countries with low digital access.
UniCamillus’s Advisory Board: leadership, innovation and values
The UniCamillus Advisory Board drew relevant ideas from the reflections that emerged during the experts’ talks to guide the University’s future with vision and competence.
Composed of leading figures from the medical, legal, economic and institutional sectors, the UniCamillus Advisory Board was created to offer strategic and multidisciplinary guidance: Andrea Biondi, an international authority in paediatric and oncological research; Vito Cozzoli, a jurist and manager with extensive experience in institutions and public policy; Maria Bianca Farina, a leading figure in the insurance and financial sectors; Giuseppe Feltrin, a cardiac surgeon and Director of the National Transplant Centre; Luciana Lamorgese, former Minister of the Interior and current Councillor of State; Gianni Letta, a statesman with long-standing government experience; and Tiziano Onesti, an economist and President of major hospital and industrial organisations. These prominent figures, with their expertise, represent a valuable asset for the University at both the national and international level.