MDHS AI Education Series

The MDHS AI Education Series returns in 2026 with a focused program of hands‑on workshops designed to build practical, responsible, and up‑to‑date AI skills for researchers.

Building on last year’s successful initiative, the 2026 program concentrates on the most impactful training—helping researchers integrate AI tools into literature reviews, scientific writing, and data‑driven research tasks.

On‑demand panels and seminars from 2025 remain available as supporting resources.

Who It’s For

The series is aimed at graduate researchers but open to supervisors, professional staff, and academic educators across the MDHS Faculty. Whether you're new to AI tools or looking to deepen your understanding of their use in biomedical research, academic writing, or healthcare analytics, the program is designed to provide practical skills and strategic foresight suitable for all levels of experience.

Upcoming Events

This full day, hands-on workshop is designed for graduate researchers looking to harness the power of AI in their research. Dr Jason Downes will demonstrate how to use AI tools creatively and effectively to enhance your research and writing practice, while staying within university guidelines and maintaining academic integrity.

View event details

This session will offer an accessible introduction to some of the research on what large language models like ChatGPT can and can't do, as well as what impacts they have on learning, productivity, and well-being.

This session will provide an overview of how the Centre for Digital Transformation of Health supports AI and digital health research across MDHS. It will highlight the Centre’s services, expertise and infrastructure, and outline how researchers can engage for advice, collaboration and support. Professor Peter Steel will speak to common challenges researchers face when working in AI and digital health, and how the Centre can help address these. Registrations will open in August.

Useful Links

Upcoming Events

About the Workshop Facilitators:

Photograph: Dr Jason Downs and Prof Inger Mewburn standing

On the Reg Team

On The Reg Team was established in 2024 by Dr Jason Downs and Professor Inger Mewburn, bringing together over four decades of combined experience in higher education. Our partnership emerged naturally from a 15-year professional friendship and our successful podcast "On The Reg," which has been running for five years and has garnered over 100,000 downloads.

Professor Inger Mewburn

Professor Inger Mewburn, widely known as "The Thesis Whisperer," has served as the Director of Researcher Development at the Australian National University for the past decade, where she has revolutionised approaches to researcher training and development. Her expertise in research productivity and academic career development complements Dr Jason Downs' international experience in educational leadership, policy development, and innovation.

Dr Jason Downs

Dr Jason Downs bridges the gap between academic research and real-world innovation in higher education. With over two decades of global experience spanning Australia to Vietnam, Jason brings a fresh, internationally informed perspective to educational leadership and technological integration.

His extensive work encompasses shaping institutional policies, educational programme design, and exploring AI's transformative potential in learning and research environments. Jason consistently delivers practical, forward-thinking solutions that enhance academic practice.

Having led courses across the Asia-Pacific region, including Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Jakarta, and Australia, Jason has accumulated valuable experience teaching both large undergraduate cohorts and specialised postgraduate programmes. This global perspective profoundly informs his approach to educational policy, programme design, and stakeholder engagement.

Jason has led teams responsible for institutional Academic Integrity, Quality and Standards, and programme design. His particular interest in AI's applications for learning and research has positioned him as a thought leader in this rapidly evolving field, helping academics navigate the balance between technological innovation and scholarly rigour.

Professor Andrew Perfors

Andrew Perfors is the Director of the Complex Human Data Hub in the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne. He uses computational models of the mind, in combination with behavioural experiments, to study human cognition: how we acquire and use concepts and language, how we make decisions, how we learn from and share information with each other, and how that process of collaborative meaning-making changes the information environment itself. Andy has many thoughts about AI, from a the perspective of computational cognitive science (what it can and can't do, and how it is similar to and different from human minds) and somebody who studies information systems (what are its impacts on science and society, and what we can do to navigate this territory).

Leveraging AI for Big Data and Healthcare Analytics

Discussing how AI facilitates management and analysis of large healthcare datasets, machine learning for data interpretation, and public health predictions.