About

Prof. Douglas Gross

Professor
Department of Physical Therapy
University of Alberta

Prof. Douglas Gross is a Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Alberta. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation. Doug’s research focuses on preventing disability in people with physical and mental health conditions, including development and evaluation of clinical decision support tools, investigating barriers to return-to-work, and the effectiveness of clinical and public health interventions. His teams have received several awards for research excellence.

Theme

Application of technology into rehabilitation​

Keynote Topic

Using machine learning to develop clinical decision support tools in rehabilitation​

Brief

Rapid development in computer technology has led to sophisticated methods of analyzing large datasets with the aim of improving human decision making. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (ML) approaches hold tremendous potential for solving complex real-world problems such as those faced in rehabilitation. These techniques are especially appealing in work disability contexts where large amounts of data are collected, such as workers’ compensation and insurance settings. This lecture will discuss attempts to develop and evaluate clinical decision support tools built using ML for identifying risk factors for delayed return-to-work and selecting interventions for patients with musculoskeletal conditions.