Science Café: AI in Healthcare

• In-person event
• Ottawa Public Library – Sunnyside , Ottawa , ON , K1S 3W9

• Contact
• Jessie Cartwright, jessie.cartwright@carleton.ca

While technology, automation, and digitization have transformed nearly every industry, healthcare remains encumbered by outdated tools. Pagers, fax machines, and paper-based workflows still dominate many clinical environments. However, the system is now at a critical inflection point. An aging population, increasing patient complexity, and attrition of the healthcare workforce are placing unprecedented strain on care delivery. These pressures demand a fundamental shift in how we approach healthcare. The recent emergence of artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT or Claude, has sparked a wave of innovation and renewed interest in leveraging AI to reshape clinical workflows. This talk explores whether, and how, AI can be harnessed to meaningfully improve healthcare delivery in the face of these emerging challenges.

Dr. Gautam Goel, BPharm, MSc (HC Sys Eng), MD, CCFP-EM

Dr. Gautam Goel is a practicing Emergency Physician and board-certified pharmacist with extensive experience in clinical operations, healthcare digitization, and systems-level thinking. He currently serves as the Clinical Informatics and IT Lead for the Emergency Department at Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, where he focuses on optimizing workflows and implementing digital solutions to improve patient care. Dr. Goel is also the Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) at Hero AI, a healthcare technology company that automates clinical workflows to enhance efficiency and reduce administrative burden.

He recently completed a Master’s in Healthcare Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, further strengthening his expertise in applying engineering principles to complex healthcare environments. Dr. Goel has trained and worked at some of Canada’s leading academic institutions and leverages his clinical and informatics background to support growth-stage healthcare startups. He currently mentors health tech entrepreneurs through the Creative Destruction Lab, helping them bring high-impact solutions to market.

Dr. Goel played a pivotal role in designing Carleton University’s new Honours Bachelor of Science in Nursing, where he developed the innovative Nursing Data Science concentration; he also serves on the university’s nursing program steering committee guiding the curriculum’s strategic direction.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gautamgoel

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