Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) Radiology’s BRIDGE GenAI Lab has reached several early milestones, reflecting the department’s investment in responsible, clinically meaningful artificial intelligence (AI) and growing engagement across academic, philanthropic, industry, and publishing partners.
Faculty Fellowships Supporting AI Innovation
Two Department of Radiology faculty members were recently awarded fellowships recognizing their academic, research, and clinical excellence—work that directly supports the department’s expanding AI portfolio.
- Dr. Eyal Klang has been awarded a $25,000 Morris Simon Fellowship, which honors the legacy of Dr. Morris Simon and his contributions to health services research, outcomes improvement, patient safety, technology development, and the early use of computer applications in healthcare.
- Dr. Yiftach Barash has been awarded a $50,000 Eleanor and Miles Shore Faculty Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, which provides protected time to pursue academic work, including research and the development of new clinical or educational programs.
Early Funding and Research Collaborations
Over the past two months, the BRIDGE GenAI Lab has advanced several initiatives across research funding and partnerships:
- Harvard Catalyst — Awarded a $50,000 Pilot Grant (PI: Eyal Klang).
- Survival and Flourishing Fund — Approved a $10,000 expedited grant to support ClinSafe, with a larger award under consideration this fall.
- BIDMC Healthcare Delivery Science — Invited to submit a full application for a $25,000–$50,000 Innovation Grant.
Establishing an Academic Home for Clinical AI
Dr. Klang joined BIDMC Radiology in March 2026 as part of the Division of Abdominal Imaging and Interventions. He brings the BRIDGE GenAI Lab to BIDMC, where it is co‑directed with Yiftach Barash, MD, an interventional radiologist at BIDMC and a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School.
The Lab’s leadership team also includes Mahmud Omar, MD, Head of Research, a family physician and medical AI researcher focused on the evaluation, safety, and equity of large language models in clinical medicine, and Alon Gorenshtein, MD, Head of AI Engineering, a physician‑scientist training in AI and neurology at Harvard Medical School, and a postdoctoral fellow at BIDMC’s Epilepsy + Data Science Lab.
The BRIDGE GenAI Lab focuses on evaluating generative AI in radiology, at the bedside, and across clinical workflows, with an emphasis on safety, real‑world performance, and clinical value. Its research spans failure modes, demographic bias, and discrepancies between benchmark results and real‑world outcomes.
As the Lab notes, “The goal isn’t just papers. It’s AI that helps physicians make better decisions — and helps patients get better care.”
Learn more about the BRIDGE GenAI Lab:
https://bridgegenai.org