The Online Journal of Public Health Informatics invites submissions on opportunities and challenges in the applications of AI in public health informatics

(Toronto, May 20, 2025) JMIR Publications invites submissions to a new theme issue titled “Opportunities and Challenges in the Applications of AI In Public Health Informatics” in its open access journal Online Journal of Public Health Informatics. The premier, peer-reviewed journal is indexed in PubMed, PubMed Central (PMC), DOAJ, Sherpa/Romeo, Web of Science Core Collection: Emerging Sources Citation Index and Scopus.

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in public health informatics presents both significant challenges and opportunities. AI has the potential to revolutionize public health by enabling better data collection and analysis, enhancing disease surveillance, improving decision-making, and strengthening public health interventions. However, its implementation also faces technical, ethical, and operational challenges. To further leverage AI’s contribution to public health issues, it is crucial to address concerns regarding health equity, privacy and security, transparency and explainability, accountability and governance, data quality and interoperability, and bias in AI models.

The integration of AI applications into precision public health empowers health professionals to target interventions to specific communities based on social determinants of health. This transition from a broad, one-size-fits all approach to a community-based intervention leads to more efficient management of infectious diseases, reduction of health care costs, and improvements in overall population health outcomes. Human-AI collaboration at the community level is required for the successful integration of AI into precision public health.

This issue invites researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to submit thought-provoking works on topics including, but not limited to, the following key themes:

• Data privacy and security: concerns about confidentiality, consent, and regulatory compliance

• Bias in AI models: training AI models on non-representative health data can result in inequitable outcomes

• Ethical considerations: ethical dilemmas in making decisions about resource allocation and prioritization of interventions

• Data preparation for AI applications: adherence to FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles for digital assets, enabling their transformation into AI-ready formats

• Disease detection and surveillance: real-time outbreak prediction and detection of emerging public health threats

To learn more please visit the website.

 

About JMIR Publications

JMIR Publications is a leading open access publisher of digital health research and a champion of open science. With a focus on author advocacy and research amplification, JMIR Publications partners with researchers to advance their careers and maximize the impact of their work. As a technology organization with publishing at its core, we provide innovative tools and resources that go beyond traditional publishing, supporting researchers at every step of the dissemination process. Our portfolio features a range of peer-reviewed journals, including the renowned Journal of Medical Internet Research.

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