Kirsten Colpaert
The Doctor as Entrepreneur
Professor Kirsten Colpaert heads the Data Science Institute at Ghent University Hospital – a relatively new department that makes all available but often widely scattered data in the hospital more easily accessible and retrievable for both researchers and managers. The institute is also committed to bringing together a team of experts in artificial intelligence and data science to improve the quality of care.
In addition, Kirsten Colpaert, who is also still working as an intensivist, strongly believes in the idea of the doctor as entrepreneur “because in our practice we simply identify concrete needs among patients and family members.” In 2021, she and her team won the Hack4Health hackaton, which sought solutions to such needs in healthcare. They developed the app Naomi, which informs and relieves the families of patients in intensive care as fully as possible. “As much as 70% of the info we provide families is forgotten because the moment is too emotional and the matter too complex. With Naomi, we want to not only present that info as visually as possible, but also link to reliable brochures and data sources.”