E170 | Leveraging AI for patient finding and knowledge generation for rare diseases
In this expert-led episode, Christopher Rudolf, CEO of Volv Global, unpacks how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing rare disease detection and knowledge generation. With over 30 years in data science and medical informatics, he shares how machine learning is being used to solve two of the biggest challenges in rare disease: finding undiagnosed patients and generating actionable clinical insights.
This conversation is essential for professionals in healthcare innovation, data analytics, life sciences, and rare disease advocacy. Discover how AI is shortening diagnostic journeys, overcoming data limitations, and uncovering new phenotypic patterns - especially for ultra-rare conditions often overlooked by traditional systems.
In this episode, you will hear:
- How AI pinpoints hidden rare disease patients using population-scale clinical, claims, and genetic data
- Why traditional EHR data and diagnostic coding fail rare disease detection - and how AI models fill the gap
- The challenge of balancing specificity vs. sensitivity in identifying true positives
- How natural history studies and patient-generated data are helping refine precision medicine
- What AI-generated insights reveal that clinical literature often misses
- The role of patient advocacy groups in training better algorithms and ensuring relevance
- Privacy, redaction, and regulatory concerns - and how to responsibly handle sensitive patient data
- The limitations of synthetic data, federated learning, and digital twins in ultra-rare conditions
- How bias in healthcare data can mislead AI - and what safeguards can mitigate disparities
- What’s next: scaling ethically, lowering costs, and building trust between AI tools and clinicians
About the Podcast:
AI for Pharma Growth is a podcast focused on exploring how artificial intelligence can revolutionise healthcare by addressing disparities and creating equitable systems. Join us as we unpack groundbreaking technologies, real-world applications, and expert insights to inspire a healthier, more equitable future.
This show brings together leading experts and changemakers to demystify AI and show how it’s being used to transform healthcare. Whether you're in the medical field, technology sector, or just curious about AI’s role in social good, this podcast offers valuable insights.
AI For Pharma Growth is the podcast from pioneering Pharma Artificial Intelligence entrepreneur Dr. Andree Bates created to help organisations understand how the use of AI based technologies can easily save them time and grow their brands and business. This show blends deep experience in the sector with demystifying AI for all pharma people, from start up biotech right through to Big Pharma. In this podcast Dr Andree will teach you the tried and true secrets to building a pharma company using AI that anyone can use, at any budget.
As the author of many peer-reviewed journals and having addressed over 500 industry conferences across the globe, Dr Andree Bates uses her obsession with all things AI and futuretech to help you to navigate through the, sometimes confusing but, magical world of AI powered tools to grow pharma businesses.
This podcast features many experts who have developed powerful AI powered tools that are the secret behind some time saving and supercharged revenue generating business results. Those who share their stories and expertise show how AI can be applied to sales, marketing, production, social media, psychology, customer insights and so much more.