The Health Informatics Lecture Series was first launched in Fall 2019, providing guest participants the opportunity to explore relevant topics in the field. 

Ana Cleveland“The Health Informatics Lecture Series is a modern take on the successful Medical Informatics Symposiums held in the 1990s and early 2000s and brings experts in the profession to engage with our students,” said Dr. Ana D. Cleveland, Regents Professor, Sarah Law Kennerly Endowed Professor, and director of the Health Informatics Program.

Invited speakers have included renowned industry and academic professionals who have presented on a range of pertinent topics in health sciences librarianship and health informatics. Lectures are held each academic year virtually in the Fall and Spring semesters. The presentations are open to UNT students, faculty, staff, and to the public.

We look forward to seeing you at a future lecture. For more information contact: Dr. Ana D. Cleveland, Regents Professor and Director, Health Informatics Program at ana.cleveland@unt.edu.


Fall 2026 Schedule

Title: What We Want, Need, and Are Getting from AI and Socially Assistive Robots for Health

Abstract: Language-based AI is now ubiquitous, and physical AI, in the form of robotics, is the next major AI challenge. These advancements are expected to improve human quality of life, with human health being one of the most important applications.  As users, we expect machines to understand us and all our unique challenges, predict our needs and wants, do what we enjoy and prefer, and adapt as we change our moods and minds, learn, grow, and age.  This talk will discuss how bringing together AI, socially assistive robotics, machine learning, and affective computing is enabling machines to understand, interact, and adapt to users’ specific and ever-changing health needs. We will overview methods and challenges for developing intelligent, proactive, and personalized AI-user interactions that provide understanding, coaching, motivating, and supportive interactions and interventions to a wide variety of user populations across the age span (infants, children, adults, elderly), ability span (typically developing, autism, anxiety, stroke, dementia), contexts (schools, therapy centers, homes), and deployment durations (from weeks to 6 months).  We will touch on the challenges of understanding what humans want from interactions with machines vs. what we need and what we are getting, and how those distinctions are shaping the future of not just AI but society at large. 

Speaker: Maja J. Mataric

Bio: Maja Matarić is a Chaired and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, (with appointments in Neuroscience and Pediatrics) at the University of Southern California, and Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind. Her PhD and MS in Computer Science and AI are from MIT, and her BS in Computer Science is from the University of Kansas. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, fellow of AAAS, IEEE, AAAI, and ACM, recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics & Engineering Mentoring (from President Obama), Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision, ACM Athena Lecture, ACM Eugene Lawler, Mass Robotics Medal, NSF Career, MIT TR35 Innovation, and IEEE RAS Early Career Awards, and authored "The Robotics Primer" (MIT Press). She led the USC Viterbi K-12 STEM Center and actively mentors and empowers K-12 students, women, and other groups toward pursuing STEM careers. A pioneer of the field of socially assistive robotics, her research is developing human-machine interaction methods for personalized support for users with challenges, including autism, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, anxiety, and other major health and wellness challenges. Her research group has conducted many of the first and still largest real-world studies in complex environments--including schools, nursing homes, retirement centers, and homes—to produce deep insights into complex human-machine interaction challenges with real-world users in situ.

Date/Time:  October 14, 2026 at 11:45am (central)

Register via Zoom

Past Lectures

Title: From Algorithm to Bedside: Operationalizing Trustworthy AI in Healthcare

Speaker: Dr. Maia Hightower, Chief Executive Officer at Veritas Healthcare Insights and Healthcare AI & digital transformation advisor

Abstract: The lecture will cover practical approaches to governing, evaluating, and deploying clinical AI safely and effectively—bridging technical performance with workflow integration, quality, and accountability.

Date: April 15, 2026 from 12-1pm (CST)