Click to Read Bio
Principal Investigator
Mamatha Bhat, MD, PhD
Dr. Mamatha Bhat is a transplant hepatologist, clinician-scientist, and international leader in the development and deployment of artificial intelligence for transplantation and complex chronic disease. She serves as Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, clinician-scientist at the Ajmera Transplant Centre, University Health Network (UHN), Director of the Clinician-Scientist Training Program in the Department of Medicine, and Partnerships and Engagement Lead for the Temerty Centre for AI Research and Education in Medicine (T-CAIREM).
Dr. Bhat’s research is focused on transforming transplant medicine through artificial intelligence. Her laboratory develops next-generation AI systems that support decision-making across the entire transplant journey—from referral and waitlist prioritization to organ allocation, transplant candidacy assessment, graft monitoring, and long-term patient outcomes. Her work combines clinical expertise with advances in machine learning, multimodal foundation models, agentic AI, and real-world deployment science.
She has led the development of some of the first clinically evaluated multi-agent AI systems for transplant decision-making, pioneering approaches that enable specialized AI agents to collaboratively reason through complex clinical problems while maintaining transparency and human oversight. Her team has also developed internationally validated deep learning models for graft fibrosis prediction, dynamic risk prediction for patients with end-stage liver disease, and AI-powered systems for longitudinal monitoring of transplant recipients.
Dr. Bhat currently leads multiple national and international initiatives focused on AI-enabled transplantation, including programs supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) aimed at improving equity in transplant access, optimizing organ allocation, personalizing post-transplant care, and advancing responsible AI deployment in healthcare. Her research has been published in leading journals including The Lancet Digital Health, Nature Communications, Journal of Hepatology, American Journal of Transplantation, and npj Digital Medicine.
A central theme of her work is ensuring that AI systems are not only accurate, but also equitable, trustworthy, and deployable within real-world clinical environments. Through collaborations spanning North America, Europe, and Asia, her team is helping establish the scientific, technical, and ethical foundations for the next generation of AI-enabled transplant care.
Dr. Bhat has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and has received numerous national and international awards recognizing her contributions to transplantation, liver disease, and biomedical innovation. She is committed to mentoring the next generation of clinician-scientists, engineers, and AI researchers who will shape the future of healthcare.
Her vision is to create intelligent clinical systems that augment human expertise, improve access to life-saving transplantation, and enable more personalized, proactive, and equitable care for patients worldwide.
Research and Operations Category
Elisa Pasini
Research Associate | Lab Manager | Transplant AI Project Manager
Elisa Pasini joined the Bhat Lab in 2018 and serves as Research Associate, Laboratory Manager, and Project Manager for the Transplant AI Initiative. She completed her Residency in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology in Udine, Italy, and holds an MSc in Biological Sciences (Physiopathology) from the University of Bologna.
Elisa oversees the operational and scientific coordination of the laboratory’s multidisciplinary research program, supporting projects spanning liver transplantation, liver cancer, precision medicine, and artificial intelligence. Her research focuses on integrating multi-omics technologies with computational approaches to improve the understanding and management of liver disease while validating bioinformatics discoveries through molecular and translational research.
As Project Manager of the Transplant AI Initiative, Elisa coordinates collaborations among clinicians, scientists, engineers, and trainees, helping translate innovative research into clinically impactful AI solutions that advance transplant medicine and personalized patient care.
