Associate Professor Ash Hopkins

I am a NHMRC Investigator and leader of the Clinical Cancer Epidemiology Lab at Flinders University, with a dual focus on clinical cancer epidemiology and the safety and ethics of artificial intelligence (AI) implementation into the community and its potential impacts on healthcare. Our lab is dedicated to delivering actionable prediction strategies and breakthroughs that improve the lives of cancer patients, as well as ensuring that AI assistants and chatbots are safe, accurate, and unbiased, and do not facilitate the production of disinformation.

In the realm of clinical cancer epidemiology, we aim to achieve our goals through epidemiological research that honors the contributions of patients who have enrolled their clinical data and experiences into science. Concurrently, our work in AI safety and ethics focuses on developing benchmarks and tools to help audit AI processes. This includes addressing AI errors, combating health disinformation, ensuring privacy, and reducing bias in AI technologies. Our goal is to mitigate the risks associated with publicly accessible AI to healthcare, fostering a safer and more ethical use of these powerful technologies within the community.

Our research group is keen on identifying and collaborating with PhD and Honours students interested in either of these critical areas. Projects are suitable for students with an undergraduate degree in pharmacy, medical sciences, biostatistics, or similar fields, and a passion for precision oncology, clinical epidemiology, AI safety, or ethical AI. If you're driven to make a difference in these cutting-edge research areas, please contact me.