Overview

November 18, 2024

Georgia World Congress Center

285 Andrew Young International Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA 30313
Georgia World Congress Center

What is Healthy AI?

The Tenth Computational Approaches for Cancer Workshop 2024 (CAFCW24) is being held as part of SC24,  the international conference for high performance computing, networking, storage, and analysis, Nov. 17-22. The workshop will take place Monday, November 18th from 2-5:30 p.m. ET at the World Congress Building in Atlanta, Ga. 

This year's workshop will bring together a wide range of individuals including clinicians, cancer biologists, mathematicians, data scientists, computational scientists, engineers, developers, vendors, thought leaders and others with an interest in advancing the use of computation to better understand, diagnose, treat and prevent cancer. As an interdisciplinary workshop, the sharing of insight and challenges fosters collaborations and future innovations accelerating progress in computationally and data-driven cancer research and clinical applications.

As a unifying theme in 2024, the special topic “What is Healthy AI?” will discuss the intersection where technology and innovation intertwines with biology. “What is Healthy AI” embarks on the journey to craft the correct components for data and algorithms to seamlessly coexist with the complex intricacies of living systems ultimately fostering advancements in healthcare and specifically cancer. Healthy AI in computational biology transcends technological innovation—it embodies a holistic approach to harnessing the power of AI for the advancement and betterment of cancer research.

Key Dates

• July 10: Registration opens
• Aug. 9: Abstract submissions due
• Sept. 13: Notification of acceptance
• Oct. 13: Early-bird registration closes
• Nov. 17-22: SC24
• Nov. 18: CAFCW24

Student Track

Beginning in 2020, CAFCW expanded its reach by adding a focus on workforce development. Again, this year, we will incorporate a student track. We encourage students, including undergraduates and students from non-technical degrees to submit accepted research. They will have a highlighted presentation during the workshop, opportunities to engage with the Students@SC program, special programing focused on training and workforce development, and further awards to be announced.  Students can submit their abstracts at Student Submissions. 

Given the interdisciplinary nature of computational biology and AI, we invite all students to participate in this workshop as an opportunity to collaborate with experts in computational chemistry, computational biology, AI, data science, computer science, and other disciplines fostering a well-rounded approach for cancer research and innovation. 

Important: The SC conference does not allow virtual workshop presentations. In submitting an abstract, you acknowledge that AT LEAST ONE author of an accepted submission will register for and attend the workshop in person at the SC24 conference.  

A Decade of Computational Workshops

The importance of high performance computing is ever increasing as a critical component of cancer research and clinical applications. The current global cancer ecosystem includes new scientific methods, AI, ever expanding sources of data, and use of simulations. These dynamic changes have set the stage for tremendous growth in HPC for cancer research and clinical application, particularly with the US Cancer Moonshot 2.0 initiative, which aims to reduce the mortality of cancer by 50% in 25 years. 

Originally established 10 years ago as part of SC2015 during the advent of the Precision Medicine and the US National Strategic Computing Initiative, this workshop provides a key venue for multiple disciplines and interests to converge, share insights, and develop collaborations in which HPC and computational approaches will advance the frontiers of cancer research and cancer care. Over the past ten years, the CAFCW has brought together cancer researchers and advanced computing scientists to share ideas and challenges, establish collaborations and identify common needs. 

Workshop Goals

As the workshop has evolved and popularity of the topic has grown, the expected outcomes of the workshop have increased. The current outcomes of the meeting include:  

1. Educate and raise awareness of the impact that HPC has in the cancer research and clinical domains  
2. Build collaborative connections among attendees to address complex problems in cancer research 
3. Extend the community with additions to the growing email lists  
4. Introduce the combined fields of cancer research and advanced computing to students 
5. Develop workshop proceedings to extend the visibility and impact of the workshop  
6. Catalyze discussions on additional computing and cancer workshops in other conferences, further building the community nationally and internationally 

Organizing Committee

• Eric Stahlberg, Ph.D., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research
• Sean Hanlon, Ph.D., National Cancer Institute
• Sally Ellingson, Ph.D., University of Kentucky
• Patricia Kovatch, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai
• James Lillard, Ph.D., Morehouse School of Medicine 
• Lynn Borkon, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research
• Lauren C. Lewis, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research