Kevin Yauy: “Being able to speak to both worlds”
On February 13, Kevin Yauy, a medical geneticist and artificial intelligence specialist at Montpellier University Hospital and the University of Montpellier, won a NextGen Leaders in Health award for his DocSimulator training program. This award recognizes ten talented individuals working to shape the future of our healthcare system. We set up our camera on the steps of the School of Medicine to discuss his career, which is as dedicated to patients with rare diseases as it is to his healthcare students. Let’s meet him!
Name?
, Kevin Yauy.
Email:
I am a medical geneticist, a PhD in artificial intelligence, and the head of the Biogenerative Health Laboratory at the Montpellier University Hospital (CHU de Montpellier) in Erios. I help people use artificial intelligence to resolve diagnostic dead ends, particularly for those with rare diseases, which is the core of my work as a geneticist.
NextGen Award Winner
This award, presented by French Care and Le Figaro, highlights ten French figures working to improve our healthcare system. It recognizes a physician-researcher whose career began with an early dual degree in medicine and science. Above all, for me, it represents a tribute to our wonderful ecosystem in Montpellier, which includes the University Hospital, the University, and the Metropolitan Area.
DocSimulator?
It is an online platform that allows students to practice with virtual patients generated using generative artificial intelligence. Today, we need to train more and more medical students and provide them with better training, all while maintaining the same number of faculty members. To achieve this, we approached the University of Montpellier, which granted us funding through the I-Site program and the Montpellier Innovation Booster (BIM). This program enabled us to build, in collaboration with the University Hospital, the University, and in partnership with the company Compute I/O, a platform that launched in 2022.
To date, the platform has been validated by two randomized clinical trials, which have demonstrated its ability to train our students to develop better clinical skills, as well as the AI’s ability to accurately assess a student just as a teacher would.
SeqOnes Genomics?
I completed a CIFRE science thesis in collaboration with the 3IA Institute in Grenoble and SeqOnes Genomics, which is our local gem here in Montpellier. I had the opportunity to learn about machine learning and AI, but also to gain insight into the business world. This was a real asset for me because, thanks to this experience, I realized that to bring about change, we need a true public-private partnership. This experience has enabled me to successfully bridge the gap between these two worlds.
Telomere or motherboard?
Why choose when you can have both? AI will help us, as humans, become better humans so we can improve patient care—especially for patients with rare diseases.
Science Ac or Star Ac?
I’d rather say Science Ac than Star Ac! (laughs) Science Ac was a program that gave us high school students the chance to visit research labs and discover what the world of research is like (Les motivés de la Science Ac’, Le Monde, 2007). To learn how to pitch in English in front of a group of researchers who were much more experienced. And then I learned to overcome my self-censorship. I grew up in an environment where I didn’t necessarily have role models—people who had gone on to pursue advanced degrees or attend prestigious schools—and this program actually allowed me to encounter that world and realize that it was possible.
Dr. Yauy, Mister…?
Probably Mr. Musician. Mr. Guitarist. We were just talking about Star’Ac a moment ago—actually, it’s not that far off. Every now and then, I play the guitar and make electronic music. I think that art and creativity can be found in research, but they can also be found in other forms of creation, particularly in music.