About
I am a physician-engineer working to change how doctors diagnose and treat disease using AI. I hold an MD/PhD, MASc in Biomedical Engineering, and BASc in Computer Engineering, all from the University of British Columbia. I now practice as a Family Medicine Resident at Lions Gate Hospital while continuing research as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Electrical and Computer Engineering at UBC.
The dual perspective of engineering and patient care shapes everything I do, from how I design studies to what I choose to build. My doctoral work developed machine learning methods for non-invasive ultrasound diagnostics in kidney disease. That same drive to bridge disciplines led me to found one of Canada's earliest hands-on AI workshop programs for medical trainees, and to co-lead the development of Canada's first AI medical curriculum.
Outside of academia, I work as a freelance consultant in biotech and health-tech, advising firms on scientific strategy and performing technology due diligence for venture capital. I completed the Pre-Amp Fellowship at Amplitude Ventures and have consulted for firms including Bloom Burton & Co. I previously co-founded Epiloid Biotechnology, a startup using brain organoid screening to de-risk epileptic drug development.
I have received over $325,000 in awards and scholarships, including Canada's top-ranked Vanier Scholarship and the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Award. As co-investigator, I have contributed to over $1.4M in grant funding from CIHR, NSERC, and MITACS. I review for over 30 journals including NeurIPS, MICCAI, and IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.
Industry and Consulting
I served as Venture Scout for UBC's SBME Innovates, identifying and evaluating early-stage health technology companies for the university's innovation pipeline. I consult for biotech and health-tech companies on scientific strategy, indication prioritization, landscape analysis, and technology due diligence. I have done this work through firms like Bloom Burton & Co., SeraGene Therapeutics, Amplitude Ventures, and others.
Previously, I co-founded Epiloid Biotechnology (2021-2023), a startup using brain organoid phenotypic screening to de-risk epileptic drug development. I am also an alumnus of the NYC Founders Fellowship at Primary Ventures.
Research
My research spans AI-enabled ultrasound diagnostics for nephrology and transplantation, computer vision and physics in medical imaging, augmented reality and image-guided surgery, and AI in medical education. I founded UBC Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, led one of Canada's earliest hands-on AI workshops for medical students, and have co-authored multiple national studies on how to teach AI effectively to future physicians.
AI-Enabled Ultrasound Diagnostics
- 2023 , Ringstrom, C., Hu, G., et al. The open kidney ultrasound data set. ASMUS Workshop, Springer. [dataset]
- 2023 , Ringstrom, C., Hu, R., et al. Automatic measurement of kidney dimensions in 2D ultrasonography is comparable to expert sonographers. Journal of Medical Imaging, 10(3).
- 2023 , Hu, R., Ringstrom, C., et al. Transplanted kidneys and their speckle distributions. Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 49(5).
- 2022 , Kadatz, M., Rohling, R., Nguan, C. Kidney ultrasound for the nephrologist: a review. Kidney Medicine.
Computer Vision and Physics in Medical Imaging
- 2022 , Ringstrom, C., Hu, R., et al. Speckle and shadows: ultrasound-specific physics-based data augmentation for kidney segmentation. Medical Imaging with Deep Learning (MIDL), PMLR.
- 2022 Yang, W., , Maheshwari, O., et al. Alcohol use disorder: neurobiology and therapeutics. Biomedicines.
- 2019 Hu, R., , Deeba, F., Rohling, R. Acoustic shadow detection: study and statistics of B-mode and radiofrequency data. Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, 45(8).
- 2019 Hu, R., , Yan, R., et al. Automated placenta segmentation with a CNN weighted by acoustic shadow detection. IEEE EMBC.
- 2019 Harriman, D.I., , Nguan, C. The resident report card: a tool for operative feedback and evaluation of technical skills. Journal of Surgical Research, 239.
Augmented Reality and Image-Guided Surgery
- 2020 , Burlinson, C., et al. Interdisciplinary development of a novel needle guide for ultrasound-guided lumbar epidural placement. BMJ Innovations.
- 2018 Edgcumbe, P., , Pratt, P., et al. Follow the light: projector-based augmented reality intracorporeal system for laparoscopic surgery. Journal of Medical Imaging, 5(2).
- 2017 , Edgcumbe, P., Pratt, P., et al. Intra-operative ultrasound-based augmented reality guidance for laparoscopic surgery. Healthcare Technology Letters, 4(5).
AI in Medical Education
- 2024 , Pupic, N., et al. Developing a Canadian AI medical curriculum using a Delphi study. npj Digital Medicine, 7(1):323.
- 2023 Pupic, N., Ghaffari-Zadeh, A., Hu, R., , et al. An evidence-based approach to AI education for medical students: a systematic review. PLOS Digital Health, 2(11).
- 2022 Hu, R., Fan, K. Y., et al., Insights from teaching AI to medical students in Canada. Nature Communications Medicine, 2(1), 63.
- 2022 Teng, M., , et al. Health care students' perspectives on AI: countrywide survey in Canada. JMIR Medical Education, 8(1).
- 2022 Hu, Z., Hu, R., Yau, O., Teng, M., et al., Tempering expectations on the medical artificial intelligence revolution: the medical trainee viewpoint. JMIR Medical Informatics, 10(8).
- 2020 Fan, K., Hu, R., Introductory machine learning for medical students: a pilot. Medical Education.
Translational Clinical Research
- 2022 Dawidek, M. T., , et al. Clinical validation of an audio-based uroflowmetry application in adult males. Canadian Urological Association Journal, 16(3).
- 2021 Burden, E., Khehra, K., , et al. PatientLink: a patient-centred status dashboard for the perioperative process. BMJ Innovations, 7(4).
For a complete list, see my Google Scholar.
Education
Residency in Family Medicine, Lions Gate Hospital, North Vancouver 2025 - now
MD/PhD in Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia 2018 - 2025
MASc in Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia 2015 - 2017
BASc in Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia 2010 - 2015
In the News
- 2026 QIMS — Reviewer of the Month, Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery
- 2026 University Affairs — Behind the Curve
- 2023 UBC Faculty of Medicine — Honoured with 2023 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Award
- 2023 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame — 2023 CMHF Award Recipients
- 2023 IODE Canada — IODE War Memorial Scholarship ($15,000)
- 2020 UBC SBME — Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, ranked 1st nationally
- 2019 UBC Applied Science — Biomed student wins BC MEDTECH Graduate Award
- 2017 UBC MD Program — UBC students 'hatch' a new support tool for people with depression
- 2016 Rick Hansen Foundation — Access Innovation Competition, 1st place
Connect
I am always open to new collaborations, whether in research, industry, or consulting. If you are working on something at the intersection of AI, medical imaging, healthcare technology, or clinical medicine, I would like to hear about it. I also provide mentorship to trainees on select occasion. Reach out at rohit [at] rsingla [dot] ca.