Dr. Sadaf Ghaderzadeh Awarded NIH/NCATS AIM-AHEAD Fellow | AI-Driven Risk Prediction Using Real-World Clinical Data

Dr. Sadaf Ghaderzadeh was awarded the prestigious AIM-AHEAD Research Fellowship by the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) to lead an applied AI/ML initiative at the intersection of precision medicine and population health.

She designed and led the development of interpretable machine learning models—including XGBoost and SHAP—leveraging large-scale real-world EHR data from MedStar Health and the NIH N3C Enclave. Her project built predictive tools to assess ICU admission and in-hospital mortality risk in patients with Type 2 Diabetes and SARS-CoV-2 infection, with downstream applications for early diabetic kidney disease (DKD) detection.

With a rare dual background in wet-lab biomarker discovery and computational modeling, Dr. Ghaderzadeh translates complex clinical and molecular data into actionable tools that empower physicians to make earlier, more informed care decisions. Her project exemplifies NIH’s mission to reimagine biomedical research through human-based, data-driven innovation—and highlights the power of AI to bridge population-level analytics with individualized care.

Congratultions, Sadaf!