British academic
Hutan Ashrafian is an academic, cardiothoracic surgeon, robotic surgeon, bariatric surgeon, computational biologist, immunologist, entrepreneur, historian, writer,
martial artist and philosopher.
[1]
[2]
[3] He is the current
chief scientific officer of Preemptive Health and Medicine at
Flagship Pioneering .
[4]
Ashrafian
thoracotomy ,
surgical procedure , and the Ashrafian sign
aortic regurgitation are named after him.
[5] He introduced the AIonAI law for
artificial intelligence .
[6]
Early life and education
Ashrafian attended the
Westminster School and then
University College London , where he completed Bachelor of Science in
immunology and
cell pathology and subsequently a medical degree (MD) in 2000.
[4] Following London-based surgical training in pediatric
cardiothoracic surgery ,
robotic surgery ,
general surgery with specialist training in
bariatric surgery , in 2015, he finished his
Wellcome Trust PhD in
computational biology and surgery from
Imperial College London and was appointed
National Institute for Health and Care Research clinical lecturer.
[4]
Ashrafian also holds a
Master of Business Administration from
Warwick Business School , graduated in 2017.
[4]
Career
Ashrafian was appointed as Chief Scientific Adviser at the
Institute of Global Health Innovation ,
Imperial College London in 2017.
[4]
In 2017, he co-founded Oxford Medical Products along with Jan Czenurska to treat overweight and obesity with a novel hydrogel.
[7]
In September 2020, during the
COVID-19 pandemic, he became the
chief medical officer of
British American Tobacco where he developed a plant-based
COVID-19 vaccine with its subsidiary KBP, and served there until August 2021.
[8]
In August 2021, he was appointed as the
chief scientific officer of Flagship Pioneering.
[9]
[10]
Ashrafian is Professor of Research Impact at
Leeds University Business School and also Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College London.
[11]
[12]
[13] He has worked on documentaries for
BBC and
Smithsonian Channel .
[14]
[15]
Research
Ashrafian's research is focused on a wide programme ranging from
life sciences , philosophy of science and
artificial intelligence ,
ancient history and art. In the life sciences these focus on mechanistic and
clinical therapeutic solutions in
obesity , cancer,
metabolic syndrome , gut microbiome dysfunction, and musculoskeletal dysfunction.
[16] In a research published in 2014, he concluded that social networking programs can help reduce the obesity.
[17]
Philosophical contributions include those in areas of
physiology , the
Simulation Argument ,
temporal paradoxes in
theoretical physics and artificial intelligence interactions (AIonAI law) and
psychiatry , AI and politics and the
Turing Test .
[6] In
artificial intelligence field, Ashrafian is one of the authors of STARD-AI protocol,
[18] a reporting guideline for artificial intelligence, and QUADAS-AI, a quality assessment tool for artificial intelligence.
[19] He is considered one of the leading researchers in artificial intelligence.
[20]
In ancient history his work includes books on contextualizing
historical events and figures such as
Alexander the Great and
Xenophon with accurate timelines and scientific explanations of occurrences.
[21] This extends in separating myth from legend in
classical Greek and
Homeric poetry and explaining the medical diseases prominent historical characters such as the Pharaohs
Tutankhamun ,
Akhenaten ,
Julius Caesar and
Henry VIII 's multiple marriages and behaviour which have subsequently featured in documentaries where Ashrafian is interviewed.
[22]
[21]
His 2012 work on the
Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt , theorized that the Pharaoh
Tutankhamun had temporal
epilepsy that led to his early demise.
[23]
[12]
[15] The book he co-authored with his student Francesco Maria Galassi, named Julius Caesar's Disease: A New Diagnosis .
[24]
[25]
[26] was reviewed by Spyros Retsas of the
British Society for the History of Medicine and
Neurological Sciences .
[27]
[28]
In art, he has worked on identifying diseases, and previously unrecognized anatomical and pathological features in over 60 famous artworks that includes those in the
Renaissance , and
ancient art . This includes the work of
Leonardo da Vinci , where he identified a hernia in da Vinci's famous image, the
Vitruvian Man .
[29]
Awards and recognition
Bibliography
Books
Ashrafian, Hutan (2014). Warrior Origins: The Historical and Legendary Links Between Bodhidharma, Shaolin Kung-Fu, Karate and Ninjutsu
Ashrafian, Hutan (2015). Surgical Philosophy: Concepts of Modern Surgery Paralleled to Sun Tzu's 'Art of War'
Galassi, Francesco Maria; Ashrafian, Hutan (2016). Julius Caesar's Disease: A New Diagnosis
Ashrafian, Hutan (2016). The Diary of Hannibal Barca: A Chronological Retrospect Centered on Polybius' Histories III
Ashrafian, Hutan; Ahmed, Kamran; Khan, Muhammad Shamim; Athanasiou, Thanos (2016). The Pocket Guide to Neoplasm
Ashrafian, Hutan (2017). The Diary of Alexander the Great: A Chronological Retrospect Centred On Arrian's Anabasis Alexandri
Ashrafian, Hutan (2017). The Diary of Xenophon's Anabasis: A Chronological Retrospect
Ashrafian, Hutan (2017). Advances in Artificial Intelligence and Application
Ashrafian, Hutan (2018). Surgical Eponyms: For General Surgery FRCS, MRCS, European and American Board Exams
Ashrafian, Hutan (2018). The Diary of Homer's Odyssey: A Chronological Retrospect
Ashrafian, Hutan (2019). The Diary of Homer's Iliad: A Chronological Retrospect
Ashrafian, Hutan (2019). The Diary of Jason and the Argonauts: A Chronological Retrospect of Apollonius Rhodius' Argonuatica
Lidströmer, Niklas; Ashrafian, Hutan (2022). Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
Selected publications
Ashrafian, Hutan et al. (2020). International evaluation of an AI system for breast cancer screening
Ashrafian, Hutan et al. (2011). Understanding the role of gut microbiome–host metabolic signal disruption in health and disease
Ashrafian, Hutan et al. (2011). Metabolic surgery profoundly influences gut microbial–host metabolic cross-talk
Ashrafian, Hutan et al. (2010).
Emotional intelligence in medicine: a systematic review through the context of the ACGME competencies
Ashrafian, Hutan et al. (2012). Technologies for global health
References
^ Daley, Jason.
"Doctors Diagnose Diseases of Subjects in Two Famous Paintings" .
Smithsonian Magazine .
^
"Word of God" .
New Scientist .
^
"How doctors can use social media as an obesity reduction tool" .
PBS NewsHour . 10 September 2014.
^
a
b
c
d
e
"Hutan Ashrafian" . Bloomberg .
^ Ward, James (2019).
The Square Mile Murder .
^
a
b Begishev, Ildar; Khisamova, Zarina; Vasyukov, Vitaly (2021). "From robotics technology to environmental crimes involving robots". E3S Web of Conferences . 244 : 12029.
doi :
10.1051/e3sconf/202124412029 .
ISSN
2267-1242 .
^ Tucker, Charlotte (24 March 2021).
"Oxford Medical Products raises €1.3 million for its safe weight loss tech, led by Ada Ventures" .
^
"British American Tobacco – BAT announces appointment of Dr Hutan Ashrafian as Chief Medical Officer" .
^ Zhang, Joe; Budhdeo, Sanjay; William, Wasswa; Cerrato, Paul; Shuaib, Haris; Sood, Harpreet; Ashrafian, Hutan; Halamka, John; Teo, James T. (15 September 2022).
"Moving towards vertically integrated artificial intelligence development" . npj Digital Medicine . 5 (1): 143.
doi :
10.1038/s41746-022-00690-x .
PMC
9474277 .
PMID
36104535 .
S2CID
252282350 .
^
"Hutan Ashrafian" .
^ Hall, Emily.
"King Tutankhamun's short life laid bare" – via The Times.co.uk.
^
a
b
"Tutankhamun's death and the birth of monotheism" . New Scientist .
^
"Can you trust a robot surgeon?" . 27 June 2017.
^
"Shock revelations as Egypt's King Tut unmasked" . Al Arabiya English . 20 October 2014.
^
a
b
"Tut, Tut: New View of King Tutankhamun Sparks Debate" .
NBC News .
^
"Hutan Ashrafian" .
^
"Slim down with social media" .
Calgary Herald .
ProQuest
1562985307 .
^ Sounderajah, Viknesh; Ashrafian, Hutan; Aggarwal, Ravi; De Fauw, Jeffrey; Denniston, Alastair K.; Greaves, Felix; Karthikesalingam, Alan; King, Dominic; Liu, Xiaoxuan; Markar, Sheraz R.; McInnes, Matthew D. F.; Panch, Trishan; Pearson-Stuttard, Jonathan; Ting, Daniel S. W.; Golub, Robert M.; Moher, David; Bossuyt, Patrick M.; Darzi, Ara (5 June 2020).
"Developing specific reporting guidelines for diagnostic accuracy studies assessing AI interventions: The STARD-AI Steering Group" . Nature Medicine . 26 (6): 807–808.
doi :
10.1038/s41591-020-0941-1 .
hdl :
10044/1/85586 .
PMID
32514173 .
S2CID
219542947 – via www.nature.com.
^ Sounderajah, Viknesh; Ashrafian, Hutan; Rose, Sherri; Shah, Nigam H.; Ghassemi, Marzyeh; Golub, Robert; Kahn, Charles E.; Esteva, Andre; Karthikesalingam, Alan; Mateen, Bilal; Webster, Dale; Milea, Dan; Ting, Daniel; Treanor, Darren; Cushnan, Dominic; King, Dominic; McPherson, Duncan; Glocker, Ben; Greaves, Felix; Harling, Leanne; Ordish, Johan; Cohen, Jérémie F.; Deeks, Jon; Leeflang, Mariska; Diamond, Matthew; McInnes, Matthew D. F.; McCradden, Melissa; Abràmoff, Michael D.; Normahani, Pasha; Markar, Sheraz R.; Chang, Stephanie; Liu, Xiaoxuan; Mallett, Susan; Shetty, Shravya; Denniston, Alastair; Collins, Gary S.; Moher, David; Whiting, Penny; Bossuyt, Patrick M.; Darzi, Ara (5 October 2021).
"A quality assessment tool for artificial intelligence-centered diagnostic test accuracy studies: QUADAS-AI" . Nature Medicine . 27 (10): 1663–1665.
doi :
10.1038/s41591-021-01517-0 .
PMID
34635854 .
S2CID
238635700 .
^ Young-Powell, Abby (11 August 2020).
"AI in cancer care: how COVID is speeding up adoption" .
^
a
b Galassi, Francesco M.; Habicht, Michael E.; Rühli, Frank J. (1 May 2016).
"Henry VIII's head trauma" . The Lancet Neurology . 15 (6): 552.
doi :
10.1016/S1474-4422(16)30006-0 .
PMID
27302124 .
S2CID
10496605 – via www.thelancet.com.
^ Hall, Emily.
"King Tutankhamun's short life laid bare" .
The Times .
^
"The real King Tut revealed: Weak, infirm and not much to look at" . The Washington Post . 22 October 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2022 .
^ Criado, Miguel Ángel (18 February 2017).
"Médicos en la máquina del tiempo" . El País – via elpais.com.
^
"Las enfermedades de los líderes que pudieron cambiar la historia" . BBC News Mundo . 25 April 2015.
^ Criado, Miguel Ángel (10 April 2015).
"Julio César pudo sufrir derrames cerebrales en lugar de epilepsia" .
El País .
^
"Book review. Julius Caesar's Disease: A New Diagnosis by Francesco M Galassi and Hutan Ashrafian" (PDF) . bshm.org.uk . Retrieved 23 January 2024 .
^ Traversari, Mirko (1 January 2017).
"Francesco M. Galassi and Hutan Ashrafian: Julius Caesar's disease: a new diagnosis" . Neurological Sciences . 38 (1): 209–210.
doi :
10.1007/s10072-017-2820-1 .
S2CID
7391081 – via Springer Link.
^ Griggs, Mary Beth.
"Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man May Not Have Been a Flawless Picture of Health" . Smithsonian Magazine .
^ Ashrafian, Hutan; Roux, Carel W. le; Rowland, Simon P.; Ali, Mariam; Cummin, Andrew R.; Darzi, Ara; Athanasiou, Thanos (1 May 2012).
"Metabolic surgery and obstructive sleep apnoea: the protective effects of bariatric procedures" . Thorax . 67 (5): 442–449.
doi :
10.1136/thx.2010.151225 .
PMID
21709167 .
S2CID
1251344 – via thorax.bmj.com.