Chippewa Valley Times

McCormack, a third-year computer science major at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, is focusing his research on using artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze factors contributing to diabetes. He believes that AI has the potential to address many issues in healthcare. "I think there are so many problems to solve in healthcare," McCormack states. "There are so many different diseases, so many different conditions, and as a computer scientist in the AI space, I think we have the tools to solve these problems."

Guided by Dr. Jim Seliya, an associate professor and chair of the computer science department, McCormack's study investigates social determinants affecting diabetes prediction. The research utilizes AI models trained on clinical data from 223,000 patients provided by a Centers for Disease Control public health survey.

Dr. Seliya remarks on McCormack's focus: “His focus was on healthcare, trying to directly impact the community,” adding that their early conversations about AI centered around its direct impact on healthcare providers and patients.

The findings highlight both biomedical factors like high blood pressure, body mass index, and high cholesterol as key indicators of diabetes risk. Additionally, four social determinants—time between patient checkups, employment status, income level, and having a personal doctor—were identified among the top ten influential factors.

“It’s all interconnected,” McCormack explains. “We’re not saying the socioeconomic conditions are going to be the most important predictor, but those factors are influential and relevant.” While previous studies have explored diabetes prediction through various lenses, McCormack notes that using computational machine learning to assess socioeconomic factors remains relatively unexplored.

Dr. Seliya praises McCormack's work: “He seems to be excited and he is a very fast learner,” adding that McCormack keeps him engaged with his quick pace.

McCormack presented his research at April’s National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Pittsburgh and plans another presentation in August at an international conference in Hawaii alongside several Ph.D. candidates. Dr. Seliya comments: “He will be in good company.”

This summer, McCormack collaborates with Dr. Seliya and another student on a separate high-performance computing project under the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at UW-Eau Claire.

McCormack aims for a future where AI enables personalized healthcare plans tailored individually rather than broadly applied across populations: “I keep hearing about in the future we’re going to be able to have personalized healthcare plans for different people on an individual basis rather than a population basis,” he says optimistically about AI's role in achieving this vision.