Just a follow-up on my post above:
You’d expect cutting-edge technology/research to be mainly used/conducted at major academic centres such as university hospitals rather than at small rural hospitals such as the one in St. Helena, CA.
As for their use of a robotic-assisted bronchoscopy system as such, I am not too surprised, as Napa County must surely rank among the most affluent areas in the US, and even the hospital in a town with a population of about 60,000 close to where I live in Germany has been a da Vinci Centre (the state-of-the-art robotic surgical system manufactured by Intuitive Surgical that uses a minimally invasive surgical approach) for more than a decade, with robotic-assisted surgeries performed by urologists, gynaecologist as well as general surgeons.
But why would a pulmonary and critical care specialist at a relatively small rural hospital be involved in a cutting-edge AI project? Well, first of all I would reply “Why not?!” Foresighted visionaries can be found anywhere!
He might have come across the benefits this particular AI system offers by reading about it, by learning about it from colleagues at conferences or while working at another hospital prior to joining the one in St. Helena. And thanks to a relatively wealthy clientele that is generously donating, funding doesn’t appear to be the unsurmountable obstacle it is for less fortunate institutions.
Yet another possibility would be that he came across Brainchip’s revolutionary technology (on the assumption that this particular yet to be fully funded Artificial Intelligence System will have Akida incorporated) through a different channel, namely thanks to a network that should not be underestimated. Judging from his name and outward appearance, Dr. Kiran Madhav Ubhayakar has Indian roots, and so do both Nandan Nayampally and Anil Mankar (who emigrated to the US after graduating from the renowned IIT Bombay).
I have close Indian American friends in Southern California (very cliché-like they are of course all doctors or lawyers
![Face with tears of joy :joy: 😂](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/6.6/png/unicode/64/1f602.png)
) and thus know very well how closely-knit the Indian community in the US is. And while India is a huge and diverse subcontinent, it seems to me that even to second- or third-generation immigrants it ultimately doesn’t matter whether you come from a Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil or Malayalam-speaking background, as bonding over common Indian cultural (and religious) heritage such as enjoying culinary delicacies (whether biryani, butter chicken, chana masala, fish curry, naan or dosa), celebrating Diwali/Deepavali, watching Bollywood movies and music videos or upholding Indian wedding traditions is ultimately more important than emphasising the differences in their Indian backgrounds.
Note that Dr. Ubhayakar “received his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, and completed his internship in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Ubhayakar completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch, and his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, Texas.”
Both Dallas and Houston are thriving hubs of the Indian-American community, and Nandan Nayampally lives in Austin, TX (according to his LinkedIn profile), not too far from Houston.
Less likely from a geographical point of view would be a connection through Anil Mankar, who lives in CA, just like Dr. Ubhayakar, although some 750 km (466 miles) south of him. Then again, info along the Indian information grapevine can travel large distances at high speed.
Of course a possible connection via the Indian-American community is pure speculation, and we don’t even know whether or not Akida is involved. But keep in mind that business and private networks absolutely encourage cross-pollination, both on a local and on a global stage, with the rise of the internet age obviously having been a massive accelerator.
And even if Dr. Ubhayakar has not yet heard of Brainchip and Akida, one thing is for sure: Robotic surgery will undoubtedly play an increasingly important role in the future of medicine. Integrating AI will allow for improved diagnostics and decision-making and enable surgeons in many cases to diagnose and operate in one session, which will in turn save those patients precious time and lessen anxiety, as they won’t have to wait for their biopsy results first and - in case a tumour is found - make another appointment for surgery. And improved AI diagnostics (“System to detect signs of cancerous lung nodules up to a year earlier than manual-only review of x-rays”) will lead to many lives saved or at least prolonged - another amazing use case of Beneficial AI!
Napa biz buzz: Ubhayakar joins Adventist Health Physicians Network St. Helena
From the
Biz Buzz: Napa Valley business news roundup series
Oct 11, 2022 Updated Jun 22, 2023
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Dr. Kiran Ubhayakar
FOR THE REGISTER
Adventist Health announced that Dr. Kiran Ubhayakar, board-certified pulmonary and critical care specialist, has joined its staff.
Ubhayakar is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine and critical care medicine, with special interest in critical care, endobronchial ultrasound and robotic navigational bronchoscopy.
Ubhayakar received his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, and completed his internship in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Ubhayakar completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch, and his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, Texas.
He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension and lung cancer.