Samina Abidi, PhD

Education

• PhD Health Informatics (Dalhousie University)
• MBSS (Dow Medical College, University of Karachi)
• MSc. IT (Universiti Sains Malaysia)

Brief bio

Samina Abidi is a Professor at the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, at the Faculty of Medicine. She is also cross appointed at the Faculty of Computer Science. She has a unique skill set where she is a clinician with an expertise in health informatics.  She is PI for several CIHR, NSERC and industry-funded research projects and has developed and evaluated numerous health information systems. She is elected as a member of 2024-2025 Digital Health Canada Board of Directors. She was granted 2022 ‘Annual Women Leaders in Digital Health’ Award by Digital Health Canada. This Award recognizes those visionaries who are harnessing the power of IT to transform Canadian health and healthcare. She is the recipient of the prestigious Steven Huesing Award (2007) from COACH (Canada’s Health Informatics Association). She is the recipient of the CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral Award (Sept. 2006 – Sept. 2009) to support her PhD program. Samina Abidi’s research include using health knowledge management and AI methods towards digital health solutions for clinical decision support targeting chronic disease management. These include virtual care by remote patient monitoring, as well as digital therapeutics for patient empowerment, self-management and behaviour modification. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles. She routinely serves as a member on national and provincial grant review panels and as a reviewer for health informatics Journals and conferences. She teaches health informatics topics in the Master of Digital Health Innovations (MDI) (Health Informatics) program and supervises medical informatics and computer science graduate theses.

Research interests

Dr. Abidi's research program is titled “Informatics Enabled Patient-Centered Care Services” and it is inspired by Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Care (SPOR) as proposed by CIHR. Her research program aims to investigate the incorporation of medical informatics theories and methods to design and implement innovative informatics-enabled patient care solutions. She pursue a healthcare knowledge management approach to investigate, develop and evaluate digital health systems and services that focus on (a) Patient empowerment strategies to help engage and educate patients achieve efficacy and motivation to self-manage their chronic conditions in home-based setting as per their prescribed longitudinal care plan. This includes empowering patients to achieve behavior modification and self-efficacy attainment through personalized strategies delivered using mobile interfaces; and (b) Point of care decision support for chronic disease management by translating evidence-based clinical guidelines and protocols in terms of computerized decision support aids to assist health professionals to provide evidence-based and standardized risk assessment and disease management for chronic diseases.

Selected Research Grants (awarded) as Principal or Co-Principal

1.      July. 2023-July 2025. Developing and Assessing the Utility of a Digital Dashboard for Surveillance of Antimicrobial use in Nova Scotia. Other Investigators: Co-PI: E. Black, S. Stewart, SSR Abidi. Funding Source: Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR): CIHR Operating Grant: Evaluation of population-level interventions to reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use. Total: $299,576.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

2.      Nov. 2022- Nov. 2023. Title: Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence based Platform for Early Chronic Disease Risk Assessment and Prediction to Improve Population Health    Other Investigators: Co-PI: SSR Abidi, E Sweeney. Co-I:  S Christie, O Loubani, K Young-Shand, K Jong, K Tennankore. Funding Source: Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR): Catalyst Grant #483905. Total: $99,970.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

3.      Apr. 2020-Mar. 2025. Title: E-Health Platform for Remote Health Monitoring using Automated Activity Recognition to Assist Self-Care and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors. Funding Sources- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC): Discovery Grant #RGPAS-2020-00085 (2020/4/1 - 2025/3/31) Total: $175,000.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

4.      Apr. 2020- Mar. 2023. Title: E-Health Platform for Remote Health Monitoring using Automated Activity Recognition to Assist Self-Care and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors. Funding Sources- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC): Discovery Accelerator Supplements (DAS) for 2020 #RGPAS-2020-00085 (2020/4/1 - 2023/3/31) Total: $120,000.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

5.      Apr. 2020-Mar.  2021. Title: Understanding COPD Management Needs: A Focus Group Study. Other Investigators: NPI: Tracey Rickards

Funding Sources - University of New Brunswick: University Research Fund Competition 2020 (RF Explore) #RF-EXP-2020-07 (2020/4/1 - 2020/3/31) Total: $3,500.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

Selected Research Grants (awarded) as Co-Investigator

1.      Nov. 2021 - Nov. 2024. Title: Predicting Clinical Outcomes for Patients Admitted To Intensive Care Unit: Developing And Validating A Canadian Data-Based ICU Prognostic And Planning System. Other Investigators: NPI: SSR Abidi.  Co-Is: O Loubani, S Gray, C Grimm, T Witter, K Tennankore, J Quinn J, C Cheng. Funding Sources - Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC): NSERC Alliance Grant (ALLRP) #ALLRP 566275 – 21. Total: $298,980.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

2.      May 2021-May 2023. Title: Optimizing Donor And Recipient Matching In Deceased And Live Donor Kidney Transplantation Using Machine Learning. Other Investigators: NPI: K Tennankore, Co-PI: SSR Abidi, Co-Is: C Chang, A Vinson, D Clark, J Quinn, R Liwiski, S Searle. Funding Sources - Nova Scotia Health Research (NSHR): Nova Scotia Health Research Fund competition, Nov. 2020. Total: $94,570.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

3.      June. 2020-June 2021. Title: Responding To COVID-19 Disruptions to Blood Transfusion Services: A Data Analytics And Visualization Platform For Blood Product Inventory Management During COVID-19. NPI: SSR Abidi. Co-Is: J Quinn, C Chang, R Liwiski. Funding Sources- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC): NSERC Alliance Grant #ALLRP 552034 – 20. Total: $49,975.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

4.      Mar. 2020-Mar. 2022. Title: Machine Learning Based Framework to Analyze Blood Product Transactional Data for Reducing Discards    Project Description: Machine Learning Based Framework to Analyze Blood Product Transactional Data for Reducing Discards. Other Investigators: NPI: Cheng C (Pathology), Co-PI: Abidi SSR (Computer Science). Co-Is: Quinn J (Pathology), Blake J (Industrial Engineering). Funding Sources - Canadian Blood Services: Blood Efficiency Accelerator Award Program. Total: $29,950.00 Received: (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

5.      Sep. 2019-Aug. 2022. Title: Predicting Early Progressive Kidney Disease in Type 1 Diabetes by Clinical and Epigenetic Signatures . Other Investigators: Siddiqi F (Endocrinology, NPI). Co-I: Tennankore K (Nephrology), Abidi SSR (Computer Science), Imran SA (Endocrinology,), Younes Anini (OB/GYN). Funding Sources - Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation (NSHRF): Establishment Grant. Total: $148,624.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

6.      Sep. 2019-Aug. 2020. Title: Digital Point-of-care Clinical Documentation in a Busy Emergency Department: An AI based Dictaphone using Intelligent Speech Recognition. NPI: Abidi SSR (Computer Science), Co-PI: Taylor B (Pediatric Emergency Medicine). Funding Source - Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation (NSHRF): Innovation Grant (2019/9 - 2020/9) Total: $15,000.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

7.      Sep. 2017-May 2021. Title: Predictive Modeling to Predict Personalized Spinal Surgery Outcomes. Other Investigators: NPI: Abidi SSR (Computer Science), Co-PI: Christie S (Neurosurgery), Co-I: Stewart S. Funding Sources - Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): Catalyst Grant. Total: $199,408.00 (Canadian dollar), (competitive)

Selected Recent Publication (Peer-Reviewed, Full Papers)

1.      Mohammadhassanzadeh H*, Abidi Samina, Abidi SSR (2024). Plausible reasoning over large health datasets: A novel approach to data analytics leveraging semantics. Knowledge Based Systems, 289:111493. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S095070512400128X?dgcid=raven_sd_via_email

2.      Rad J, Tennankore K, Abidi Samina, Abidi R (May 2024). Extracting Decision Paths via Surrogate Modeling for Explainability of Black Box Classifiers. 11th IEEE Swiss Conference on Data Science (SDS2024). May 31, 2024, Zurich, Switzerland

3.      Abidi SSR, *Naqvi A, Worthen G, Vinson A, Abidi Samina, Kiberd B, Skinner T, West K. Tennankore K, (2023). Multi-view Clustering to Identify Novel Kidney Donor Phenotypes for Assessing Graft Survival in Older Transplant Recipients. Kidney 360, 4(7), pp. 951-961.doi: 10.34067/KID. 0000000000000190. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37291713/

4.      *Van Woensel W, Tu SW, Michalowski W, Abidi SSR, Abidi Samina, Alonso J, . . . Peleg M. (2023). Clinical Decision Support Methods based on Clinical Guidelines for Managing Multimorbidity Patients: Community-Based Evaluation. Journal of Biomedical Informatics. 2023 Jun; 142:104395. doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2023.104395. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37201618/  

5.      Eastwood KW, May R, Andreou P, Abidi Samina, Abidi SSR, Loubani O. (2023). Needs and Expectations for Artificial Intelligence in Emergency Medicine According to Canadian Physicians. BMC Health Serv Res, Vol. 23(798). https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-2222756/v1

6.      Liwsk R, Cheng C, Clarke G, Abidi SSR, Abidi Samina, Quinn J. (Jan. 2023). Validation of a Flow Cytometry Based Red Blood Cell Phenotyping Method. Vox Sanguinis: The International Journal of Transfusion Medicine. 2023 Jan 12. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36633967/

7.      Abidi Samina, Rickards T, Van Woensel W, Abidi R, Digital Therapeutics for COPD Patient Self-Management: Needs Analysis and Design Study (July 2023). The 19th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics (MedInfo 23). July 2023, Sydney, Australia

8.      Van Woensel W, Scioscia F, Loseto G, Seneviratne O, Patton E, Abidi Samina (Jun. 2023). Explanations of Symbolic Reasoning to Effect Patient Persuasion and Education.  XAI-Healthcare eXplainable AI in Healthcare. Third International Workshop on eXplainable Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (XAI-Healthcare 2023).  June 15, 2023, in conjunction with AIME 2023, Portoroz, Slovenia

9.      Van Woensel W, Abidi R, Abidi Samina. (Jun. 2023). Decentralized Web-based Clinical Decision Support System Using GLEAN Workflows. 21st International Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AIME 23). June 2023, Portoroz, Slovenia

10.   Abidi Samina & Rickards Tracey. (Oct. 2022,). Specifications and Feasibility of Technology-Based Self-Management of COPD: An Exploratory Qualitative Study with Patients and Providers. Healthcare Management Forum, 36(2). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08404704221129593

11.   *Rose-Davis B, *W Van Woensel W, Abidi Samina, Stringer E, Abidi SSR. (2022,). Semantic knowledge modeling and evaluation of argument Theory to develop dialogue-based patient education systems for chronic disease Self-Management. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 160, 104693. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1386505622000077

12.   *Van Woensel W, Abidi SSR, Abidi Samina. (2021). Decision Support for Comorbid Conditions via Execution-Time Integration of Clinical Guidelines Using Transaction-based Semantics and Temporal Planning. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 118(2021), 102127. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0933365721001202?dgcid=coauthor

13.   *Shofyia C, Abidi Samina. (2021). Sentiment Analysis on COVID-19 Related Social Distancing in Canada Using Twitter Data. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health: Special Issue: Advancements in Quality of Patient Care and Health Services Through Health Informatics Innovations, 18(11), 5993. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/5993

14.   *Van, Woensel W, *Roy, PC, Abidi, SSR, Abidi Samina. (2020). Indoor location identification of patients for directing virtual care: An AI approach using machine learning and knowledge-based methods. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 108(101931).

15.   *Nair A, Abidi SSR, *Van Woensel W, Abidi Samina. (2021). Ontology-Based Personalized Cognitive Behavioral Plans for Patients with Mild Depression. In Mantas J, Stoicu-Tivadar L, Chronaki C, Hasman A, Weber P, Gallos P, Crişan-Vida M, Zoulias E, Chirila OS (Eds.), Public Health and Informatics: Studies in Health Technology and Informatics (Vol. 281) (pp. 729 – 733). IOS Press. doi:10.3233/SHTI210268 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34042672/

16.   *Rad J, Quinn JG, Cheng C, Liwski R, Abidi Samina, Abidi SSR. (2021). Using Interactive Visual Analytics to Optimize in Real-Time Blood Products Inventory at a Blood Bank. In Mantas J, Stoicu-Tivadar L, Chronaki C, Hasman A, Weber P, Gallos P, Crişan-Vida M, Zoulias E, Chirila OS (Eds.), Public Health and Informatics; Studies in Health Technology and Informatics (Vol. 281) (pp. 223 - 227). IOS Press. doi:10.3233/SHTI210153  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34042738/

17.   *Barrett M, *Daowd A, Abidi SSR, Abidi Samina. (2021). A Knowledge Graph of Mechanistic Associations Between COVID-19, Diabetes Mellitus and Kidney Diseases. In Mantas J, Stoicu-Tivadar L, Chronaki C, Hasman A, Weber P, Gallos P, Crişan-Vida M, Zoulias E, Chirila OS (Eds.), Public Health and Informatics: Studies in Health Technology and Informatics (VOL. 281) (pp. 392 - 396). IOS Press. doi:10.3233/SHTI210187 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34042772/

18.   *Daowd A, *Barrett B, Abidi Samina, Abidi SSR. (2021). Building a Knowledge Graph Representing Causal Associations Between Risk Factors and Incidence of Breast Cancer. In Mantas J, Stoicu-Tivadar L, Chronaki C, Hasman A, Weber P, Gallos P, Crişan-Vida M, Zoulias E, Chirila OS (Eds.), Studies in Health Technology and Informatics: Public Health and Informatics (Vol. 281) (pp. 724 - 728). IOS Press. doi:10.3233/SHTI210267  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34042671/

19.   https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0933365720301275

20.   *Imoukhome E, Weeks LE, Abidi Samina. (2020). Fall Prevention and Management App Prototype for the Elderly and Their Caregivers: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation. International Journal Extreme Automation and Connectivity in Healthcare, 2(1), 48-67. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338326321_Fall_Prevention_and_Management_App_Prototype_for_the_Elderly_and_Their_Caregivers_Design_Implementation_and_Evaluation

21.   *Mufti HN, Hirsch GM, Abidi, Samina, Abidi SSR. (2019). Exploiting Machine Learning Methods for the Prediction of Agitated Delirium after Cardiac Surgery. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 7(4), 1-21. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31558433-exploiting-machine-learning-algorithms-and-methods-for-the-prediction-of-agitated-delirium-after-cardiac-surgery-models-development-and-validation-study

22.   Abidi SSR, Abidi Samina. (2019). Intelligent Health Data Analytics: A Convergence of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data. Healthcare Management Forum, 32(4), 178-182. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0840470419846134

23.   *Jafarpour, B, Abidi Samina, *Van Woensel W, Abidi,SS R. (2019). Execution-Time Integration of Clinical Practice Guidelines to Provide Decision Support for Comorbid Conditions. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, 94, 117-137.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0933365717303883  

24.   *Wheeler T, Vallis M, Giacomantonio N, Abidi, Samina. (2018). Feasibility and Usability of an Ontology-based Mobile Intervention for Patients with Hypertension. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 119, 8-16. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1386505618301710   

25.   Cox J, Parkash R, Abidi SSR, Thabane L, Xie F, MacKillop J, Abidi Samina, Ciaccia A, Choudhri SH, Abusharekh A, Nemis-White J. (2018). Optimizing Primary Care Management Of Atrial Fibrillation: The Rationale And Methods Of The Integrated Management Program Advancing Community Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation (IMPACT-AF) Study. American Heart Journal, 201, 149-157. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002870318301170?via%3Dihub  

26.   Abidi Samina, Vallis M, Piccinini-Vallis H, Imran SA, Abidi SSR. (2018). Diabetes-Related Behavior Change Knowledge Transfer to Primary Care Practitioners and Patients: Implementation and Evaluation of a Digital Health Platform. JMIR-Medical Informatics, 6(2), e25. Retrieved from http://medinform.jmir.org/2018/2/e25

Selected awards & honours

1.      Elected Member of Digital Health Board of Directors - 2024-2026

2.      2022 Women Leaders in Digital Health – Leader Category

3.       John Fox Memorial Award – 2022. Best Paper Award in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Conference.

4.      Steven Huesing Award - awarded to the best Canadian health informatics graduate student by COACH (Canada’s Health Informatics Association)- 2007

5.      CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral Award 2006 – 2007

6.      Member of CIHR College of Reviewers – 2021

Employment

Professor (Medical Informatics) Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University

Professor (Cross-appointment), Faculty of Computer Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS

Teaching

Master of Digital Innovation Program (Health Informatics)

HINF 6110 – Health Informatics Systems and Issues

HINF 6020 – Research Methods

Service & activity

Interim Graduate Coordinator (2023-2024). Department of Community health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University

Member of T-CAIREM (Temerty Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Education in Medicine) Educational Committee (2022-Ongoing).

CIHR and NSERC Grant Review Panels

MSHRF (BC) Innovation to Commercialization Grant Review Panels

Reviewer for national and international health informatics journals, conferences, grants

PC member for national and international conferences

Member Department of Community Health and Epidemiology Admissions Committee

Member Health Informatics Executive Committee