Selen Bozkurt, PhD, MS

Dr. Selen Bozkurt, Assistant Professor in Biomedical Informatics and Palliative Medicine at Emory University, AI Humanity Initiative Scholar, and Senior Ethics Fellow at the Emory Center for Ethics, focuses on patient-centered AI solutions to improve health outcomes and address social determinants of health. Her work leverages natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to uncover hidden insights in electronic health records (EHRs) while emphasizing ethical AI governance to ensure fairness and transparency.

Dr. Bozkurt’s project aims to develop a large language model (LLM)-based algorithm to detect linguistic markers of loneliness in EHRs, enabling healthcare providers to identify at-risk individuals and intervene effectively. This project combines advanced NLP techniques with insights from focus groups involving older adults and clinicians to co-design a clinically relevant and ethically sound tool. The algorithm analyzes unstructured EHR data, such as clinical notes and patient messages, to reveal indicators of social isolation. It undergoes rigorous testing to ensure accuracy and mitigate biases and errors, all with the goal of improving human health for all. 

Longevity and Healthy Aging Project:  Large language model (LLM)-based algorithm to detect linguistic markers of loneliness in electronic health records (EHR)