SPEAKERS
Dr Marcin T Czyż MD PhD, Birmingham, UK
Faculty – Critical Appraisal & Clinical Risk
Marcin T. Czyż is a spine surgeon with a PhD-level background in biomechanical modelling, including finite element analysis of cervical spine injury and quantitative analysis of surgical constructs. This engineering-informed clinical profile gives him a distinctive perspective on AI: he understands modelling as a discipline, appreciates the gap between computational prediction and biological reality, and is well placed to interrogate the assumptions that underpin AI tools in surgical practice.
His value in the context of AI is not as an implementation champion but as a sophisticated critical appraiser. From his biomechanics background, he understands that models are approximations of reality, that performance in controlled conditions does not guarantee performance in real patients, and that the assumption of generalisability requires rigorous external validation. These are exactly the limitations that plague current orthopaedic and spinal AI research, where many tools are trained on single-centre datasets, perform impressively within their training environment, and fail to replicate results elsewhere.
Dr Andrew King MD
Faculty - Clinical Professor, LSU Health
Dr. King received his medical degree at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He completed his orthopedic residency in New Zealand and spent a year of orthopaedic training in Exeter, England. Dr. King completed a fellowship in spinal surgery at LSU Medical Center in 1980 before joining the faculty at LSU.
His interests and research have centered on scoliosis and spinal deformities. Dr. King has lectured and presented research at numerous national and international forums. His research, in conjunction with the Bioengineering Section of the LSU Department of Orthopedic Surgery, has produced methods of spinal instrumentation that are manufactured commercially and available internationally: he is a member of the Scoliosis Research Society and on the advisory board of the Scoliosis Association.
Dr. King is past-president of the medical staff of Children's Hospital and has served on the Board of Directors of both Children's Hospital and Kenner Regional Medical Center. He also served as the 2007 President of the Louisiana Orthopaedic Association.