Ali Ammar

Dr. Ali Ammar is an Adjunct Scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of Unity Health Toronto and a Research Data Scientist in the Division of Neurosurgery at St. Michael’s Hospital. His research focuses on developing reliable clinical artificial intelligence using large-scale, real-world health data, including medical imaging and longitudinal patient records. He builds machine learning and statistical models to support early disease detection, risk assessment, prognosis and treatment decisions. His work spans musculoskeletal health, oncology and the clinical neurosciences, with the goal of bringing validated tools into clinical workflows and evaluating their impact on patient care.

Dr. Ammar holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from McMaster University, where he developed image-processing and machine learning methods for osteoporotic fracture risk prediction. He then completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in Radiation Oncology at Mayo Clinic Arizona, developing deep learning tools for automated organ segmentation and treatment planning. A central theme of his program is ensuring that clinical AI performs reliably in routine practice, examining how image acquisition, data quality and variation across patients and settings affect model performance. He collaborates with clinicians and multi-institutional teams on research projects and mentors graduate trainees from the University of Toronto.

Other Appointments & Affiliations

• Ad hoc reviewer, Medical Physics; Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics
• Professional Engineer (P.Eng.), Professional Engineers Ontario