Meet Our Team

Zain Khalpey MD, PhD, FACS

Project(s)

• Department: Cardiothoracic Surgeon
• Director: Mechanical Circulatory Support, ECMO, Heart and Lung Surgical Group, Scottsdal, Arizona, USA
• Director: Artificial Heart Mechanical Circulatory Support, and Extracorporeal Life Support, Heart and Lung Surgical Group, Scottsdale, Arizona

Amina Khalpey PhD

Dr. Amina Khalpey stands at the forefront of artificial intelligence in healthcare, pioneering innovations that bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and practical medical solutions. Her groundbreaking work in plasma physics and biomedical engineering has revolutionized cardiac care, particularly through her innovative use of plasma technology to enhance artificial cardiac grafts for aorto-coronary bypass and artificial hearts.

With a PhD in Plasma Physics and an MS in Biomedical Engineering from France, Dr. Khalpey brings a unique multidisciplinary perspective to the challenges facing modern medicine. Throughout her career, she has maintained an unwavering commitment to education and knowledge transfer, recognizing that technological advancement must be paired with comprehensive training to create lasting impact in healthcare. Her distinguished career spans some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, where she has consistently demonstrated transformative leadership. As Executive Director of the Kuwait-MIT Center, she orchestrated vital partnerships with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), creating powerful channels for scientific collaboration and advanced training programs. Her tenure at the Whitehead Institute as Associate Director of Intellectual Property positioned her at the intersection of innovation and practical applications, while her role as Director of Programs for the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative allowed her to extend the reach of medical and educational advancement to those most in need.

Today, as President of the Applied Translational Artificial Research Institute (ATARI) and Co-Director of the Khalpey AI Lab, Dr. Amina Khalpey is transforming the landscape of cardiac care through AI-driven solutions. Her pioneering research in heart rate variability and waveform technology offers new hope for patients battling complex cardiac conditions, from sudden cardiac death to atrial fibrillation. This work represents a crucial bridge between theoretical AI capabilities and practical clinical applications.

In “The AI Prescription: Transformative Algorithms in Healthcare,” Dr. Amina Khalpey provides medical professionals with a comprehensive framework for integrating artificial intelligence into clinical practice. This groundbreaking work serves as the foundation for a broader vision of AI literacy in healthcare—a vision that comes to life through ATARI Foundation’s innovative Academy and AI Literacy program. Understanding that successful AI implementation requires a holistic approach, Dr. Khalpey has designed these initiatives to create a comprehensive ecosystem of AI understanding, from patients to healthcare providers to entire healthcare systems. The book represents the first step in this ambitious journey, laying the groundwork for a future where AI literacy is as fundamental to healthcare as basic medical knowledge.

The ATARI Foundation’s Academy builds upon the book’s principles, offering structured training programs that transform theoretical knowledge into practical skills. This innovative approach ensures that healthcare professionals not only understand AI’s potential but can effectively harness it in their daily practice. Meanwhile, the AI Literacy program extends this knowledge to patients and healthcare administrators, creating a shared understanding that enables more informed decision-making and better health outcomes. This comprehensive approach reflects Dr. Khalpey’s belief that true healthcare transformation requires all stakeholders to speak the same language when it comes to AI implementation.

Dr. Khalpey’s work transcends mere technological advancement—it embodies a vision for healthcare where innovation serves humanity’s fundamental need for effective, compassionate medical treatment. As an authoritative voice in healthcare AI, she continues to shape the dialogue around medicine’s digital future, ensuring that technological progress enhances rather than diminishes the human element of patient care. Her integrated approach to AI literacy, from publication to practical implementation through the ATARI Foundation’s programs, is setting new standards for how healthcare systems can embrace and optimize AI technologies while maintaining ethical standards and patient-centered care.

She lives and works in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she leads research initiatives that are redefining the possibilities of AI-driven healthcare, while mentoring the next generation of medical innovators who will carry this vision forward. Through her work with the ATARI Foundation’s Academy and AI Literacy program, she continues to build bridges between cutting-edge AI technology and its practical, ethical implementation in healthcare settings worldwide.

Ujjawal Kumar

Postgraduate Research Fellow

Project(s)

• Heart Failure and Cardiothoracic Surgery Management
• AF Ablation Hybrid Surgery
• Post-operative pain protocols
• Cryoablation for control of post-thoracotomy pain
• Sternal closure solutions
• AI in surgical education
• AI in surgical systems
• AI in prediction of PPM after TAVR
• Non-invasive cardiac flow dynamics monitoring
• Clinical Case Reports

Ujjawal is a medical student at Gonville & Caius College in the University of Cambridge, England, and is keen to pursue a future career in cardiothoracic surgery, combining this with research into improving patient outcomes through the use of genomics, technology, and augmented intelligence. His undergraduate studies culminated with an honours degree in Preclinical Medical and Natural Sciences, specialising in Genetics. Ujjawal has undertaken multiple periods of research encompassing laboratory wet-lab, computational and clinical research, resulting in multiple presentations ranging from local to international levels, where he has received top awards for his work, as well as multiple highly-competitive funding awards. He also completed a rotation at HonorHealth on the Cardiac Surgery service under Dr Khalpey as part of his medical elective in Summer 2023. He is involved in a range of research programmes within the Khalpey AI Lab, both clinically and on AI-based projects.

Usman Aslam M.D.

Project(s)

• Clinical Case Reports
• Data Analysis and Machine Learning Integration in the Medical Field

Alyssa Abraham