Can an artificial intelligence solution be an asset for brain imaging research and interpretation? Complicated question, not necessarily simple answers, but a Rennes researcher has successfully opened a new path in this summit of knowledge.
This Tuesday, October 8, 2024, on the occasion of Science Day week, Rennes resident Elodie Germani, 27, is one of the 35 promising researchers whose work is rewarded with a Young Talents prize for women and science, awarded by the L’Oréal Foundation, in partnership with the Academy of Sciences and the French National Commission for Unesco (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
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Help the doctor, not replace him
“Artificial intelligence is not intended to replace the doctor but to help him, for example to search for a particular type of brain lesion or indicate a brain area to explore,” explains Elodie Germani, who worked at the Institute for Research in Computer Science and Random Systems (Irisa) with the teams from the Empenn laboratory (which means “Brain” in Breton) and Lacodam (Large scale Collaborative Data Mining). Teams which are in close contact with Inria (National Institute for Research in Digital Sciences and Technologies), Inserm (National Institute of Health and Scientific Research), CNRS and the University of Rennes I.
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The trophy and the grant (15,000 euros) from the L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO will allow this researcher who has just successfully defended her thesis (1) to continue her journey across the Rhine with peace of mind. “I am starting a post-doctoral contract. I am joining the University of Bonn for two years to pursue research on artificial intelligence”explained Elodie Germani.
Showing girls the way to science
A specialty which is not a mass sport and which is not very feminized either. “My father and mother are computer engineers. I was immersed in the pot very early! » concedes the one who first began studying medicine before leaving the Paris region to obtain a master’s degree in bioinformatics and genomics at the University of Rennes.
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“In the Empenn laboratory, there are equal numbers of men and women. But it’s true that there aren’t very many of us working on artificial intelligence”explains the one who regularly participates in initiatives such as “L code, L create”, to encourage adolescent girls and young women to choose this path. Another mountain to climb and paths to open to further feminize the ranks of scientists.
(1) thesis financed half by a doctoral research grant (ARED from the Brittany region and by successful completion of the competition from the doctoral school of the University of Rennes 1.
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