Dr. Yulin Hswen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Bakar Computational Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Hswen earned her Doctorate from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, specializing in computational epidemiology. Her research focuses on leveraging advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning techniques to analyze large-scale digital data for identifying patterns of disease and informing population health strategies.

Dr. Hswen’s recent work examines the application of generative AI and machine learning models in healthcare, with a particular focus on understanding how these tools can interpret and mimic human communication. Her research addresses the ability of AI to replicate complex emotional cues, such as happiness, sadness, anger, and disgust, and compares AI-generated assessments of these emotions with traditional human evaluations. This involves developing and validating innovative methodologies, such as integrating human-in-the-loop systems with natural language processing (NLP) tools, to measure the accuracy of AI systems in understanding nuanced emotional communication in patient interactions and other healthcare contexts.

Dr. Hswen also investigates the broader implications of advancing AI technology on population health, specifically exploring the risks of cognitive complacency and the potential erosion of human-driven problem-solving and innovation in decision-making processes. Her research utilizes empirical data to evaluate the capacity of AI to detect patterns in behavior and health outcomes while addressing challenges such as automated biases, misinformation, and algorithmic limitations. A key area of her work focuses on understanding how AI can be optimized to support epidemiological methods and improve disease surveillance systems.

In addition to her technical research, Dr. Hswen has explored the health implications of emerging public health trends, including underground black markets such as illicit drug sales and behaviors. Using AI tools and social media analytics, Dr. Hswen’s research identifies patterns in the marketing, and public discourse surrounding these drug behaviors to better understand their role in disease burden and public health outcomes.

Outside of her professional work, Dr. Hswen has a strong appreciation for 18th- and 19th-century art and a passion for horology, particularly modern and crystal timepieces.