KEV.AI Lab

About the KEV.AI Lab

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Mission

The KEV.AI Lab — Knowledge Engineering & Validation for AI — advances the infrastructure that makes medical AI trustworthy.

We believe the hardest problems in healthcare AI are not modeling problems. They are knowledge problems: how to acquire expert judgment, how to represent it without distortion, how to verify it survives the passage from expert to algorithm to clinical use, and how to keep it aligned as the system scales.

Adria Abella Villafranca

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Chief Technology Officer, SchoolMe Researcher, Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

ORCID: 0000-0003-1503-2163 • LinkedIn

Bio

Adria Abella Villafranca is a mechanical engineer and the technical lead behind SchoolMe’s AI-powered medical education platform. Before moving into full-time startup leadership, Adria spent six years as Data Warehouse Administrator at the UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation, where he built and maintained the research data infrastructure that powered dozens of peer-reviewed studies and multiple patents in waveform analysis, surgical informatics, and medical device development.

Carly M. Eckert, MD, PhD, MPH

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Chief Operating Officer, SchoolMe Assistant Research Professor, Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Adjunct Associate Professor, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University Co-Founder, Head of Innovation & Impact, Head of Responsible AI — Avante

LinkedIn • ORCID • Google Scholar

Bio

Carly Eckert is a physician, epidemiologist, and clinical informaticist whose career sits at the intersection of healthcare AI, responsible technology development, and health system innovation. She trained as an MD, completed general surgery residency at Vanderbilt, and earned her MPH and PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Washington.

Contact

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

General Inquiries

Kevin W. Sexton, MD, FACS Director, KEV.AI Lab kevin.sexton@vumc.org

By Topic

Mailing Address

KEV.AI Lab Vanderbilt University Medical Center Section of Surgical Sciences Nashville, Tennessee

Lab Members

Kev Sexton — LinkedIn • ORCID • Google Scholar • PubMed
Keith Obstein — LinkedIn • ORCID • PubMed • STORM Lab
Adria Abella Villafranca — ORCID

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Join Us

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The KEV.AI Lab is looking for people who want to build, not just study, the next generation of medical AI.

Who We’re Looking For

We recruit people who have, or want to develop, some combination of:

Clinical fluency — in surgery, acute care, GI, or another procedural/acute specialty. You understand what it actually feels like to care for patients, and you have a point of view on where AI should and shouldn’t go.
Engineering or informatics depth — in ML, NLP, signal processing, ontology engineering, or production software. You can ship working systems, not just prototypes.
An entrepreneurial instinct — you’ve built, sold, shipped, or founded something. Or you want to. Or you know you’re going to.
A commitment to rigor — paper reviews, validation studies, ontology work, evaluation frameworks. The unglamorous parts of the job are what separate real work from demos.

We especially welcome clinician-scientists, clinical informatics fellows, PhD students in biomedical informatics and data science, mechanical and biomedical engineers with an interest in medical devices, and designers and product managers working in healthcare.

Keith L. Obstein, MD, MPH

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Chief Medical Education Officer & Board Chairman, SchoolMe Assistant Dean for Simulation in Medical Education, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Director, Center for Experiential Learning and Assessment (CELA) Professor of Medicine and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University Director, Science and Technology of Robotics in Medicine (STORM) Lab USA

ORCID: 0000-0001-8654-7290 • LinkedIn • STORM Lab • Vanderbilt Profile

Bio

Keith Obstein is a gastroenterologist, medical device inventor, and medical education scientist who sits at the rare intersection of clinical medicine, mechanical engineering, and adult learning theory. He was recruited to Vanderbilt in 2010 to develop an endoscopic technologies program and now holds primary appointments in both Medicine and Mechanical Engineering.

Kevin W. Sexton, MD, FACS

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Director, KEV.AI Lab Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Helen and Nicholas Abumrad Director | Vice Chair for Innovation, Section of Surgical Sciences CEO & Co-Founder, SchoolMe

kevin.sexton@vumc.org • LinkedIn • ORCID • Google Scholar

Bio

Kevin Sexton is a trauma and acute care surgeon, board-certified clinical informaticist, and healthcare AI entrepreneur. He directs the KEV.AI Lab at VUMC, where he leads research at the intersection of surgery, clinical informatics, and artificial intelligence, and serves as Vice Chair for Innovation in the Section of Surgical Sciences.

News & Media

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Recent highlights from the KEV.AI Lab and its members.

2026

May 2026 — AMCAIM Podcast Appearance

Kev Sexton joins Dr. Mel Speisman on the AMCAIM podcast to discuss AI in medical education and the SchoolMe platform.

April 2026 — SUS Membership Application (forthcoming)

Kev plans to apply to the Society of University Surgeons when membership applications open in May 2026.

March 2026 — SAGES Annual Meeting

Lab members present at SAGES in Tampa, including “Smart and Safe: Bringing AI on Board” (invited, K. Sexton).

Partners & Collaborators

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The KEV.AI Lab works across industry, academia, federal agencies, and medical societies. These partnerships are how the lab’s research translates into real-world impact — and how real-world signal flows back into the lab.

Portfolio Companies & Spin-Outs

SchoolMe

AI-powered adaptive learning platform for medical education. Licensed from VUMC. The translational outlet for the lab’s AI-in-education research.

Leadership:

Kevin W. Sexton, MD, FACS — CEO & Co-Founder
Keith L. Obstein, MD, MPH — Chief Medical Education Officer & Board Chairman
Carly M. Eckert, MD, PhD, MPH — Chief Operating Officer
Adria Abella Villafranca — Chief Technology Officer
Jonathan Barnes — Fractional Chief Revenue Officer (via WorkHeartily)
Deb Sexton — Controller
Cara Sanders — Director of Administration
Catherine Corless — VP Regulatory & Compliance

BRIM Analytics

ARPA-H-funded AI chart abstraction platform. Lab Co-Investigator leadership on AI-guided registry abstraction.

Publications

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A selection of recent work from KEV.AI Lab members, organized by research theme. Full publication lists are maintained by each team member — links provided.

For Kev Sexton: PubMed • Google Scholar For Keith Obstein: PubMed • ORCID For Carly Eckert: Google Scholar • ORCID For Adria Abella Villafranca: ORCID

AI & Machine Learning in Medicine

Eckert CM. Adapting Trauma Outcome Prediction Models to Individual Facilities using Transfer Learning. University of Washington; 2023.
Ahmad MA, Eckert CM. Show Your Work: Responsible Model Reporting in Health Care Artificial Intelligence. Surgical Clinics of North America. 2023.
Lammers DT, Eckert CM, Ahmad MA, Bingham JR, Eckert MJ. A surgeon’s guide to machine learning. Annals of Surgery Open. 2021.
Ahmad MA, Eckert C, Allen C, Kumar V, Hu J, Teredesai A. Fairness in healthcare AI. IEEE ICHI, 2021.
Ahmad MA, Teredesai A, Eckert C. Fairness, accountability, transparency in AI at scale: Lessons from national programs. FAccT, 2020.
Syeda HB, Syed M, Sexton KW, et al. The Role of Machine Learning Techniques to Tackle COVID-19 Crisis: A Systematic Review. JMIR Medical Informatics. 2021.
Syed M, Syed S, Sexton K, et al. Application of Machine Learning in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Settings Using MIMIC Dataset: Systematic Review. Informatics. 2021.

Knowledge Engineering, Ontologies & Semantic Interoperability

Zayas CE, Whorton JM, Sexton KW, Mabry CD, Dowland SC, Brochhausen M. Development and validation of the early warning system scores ontology. Journal of Biomedical Semantics. 2023.
Brochhausen M, Whorton JM, Zayas CE, et al. Assessing the Need for Semantic Data Integration for Surgical Biobanks — A Knowledge Representation Perspective. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2022.
Blobel B, Oemig F, Ruotsalainen P, Brochhausen M, Sexton KW, Giacomini M. The Representational Challenge of Integration and Interoperability in Transformed Health Ecosystems. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2024.
Mehta D, Whorton JM, Shahriari R, Ragan ED, Bona JP, Hogan WR, Sexton KW, Brochhausen M. Expanding the Ontology of Organizational Structures of Trauma Centers and Trauma Systems. ICBO 2024.
Brochhausen M, Ball JW, Sanddal ND, Dodd J, Braun N, Bost S, Utecht J, Winchell RJ, Sexton KW. Collecting data on organizational structures of trauma centers: the CAFE web service. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. 2020.

Clinical Informatics & Decision Support

Massanelli J, Sexton KW, Lesher CT, et al. Integration of Web Analytics into Graduate Medical Education: Usability Study. JMIR Formative Research. 2021.
Syed M, Al-Shukri S, Syed S, Sexton K, et al. DeIDNER corpus: Annotation of clinical discharge summary notes for named entity recognition using BRAT tool. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2021.
Williams TB, Crump A, Garza MY, et al. Care delivery team composition effect on hospitalization risk in African Americans with congestive heart failure. PLoS ONE. 2023.

Medical Education & Simulation

Obstein KL, Landewee CA, Martin J, et al. The Magnetic Flexible Endoscope: Phase 1 First-in-Human Clinical Trial. Am J Gastroenterol. 2025.
Shah BJ, Onken JE, Edgar L, et al (incl. Obstein KL). Development of Gastroenterology and Transplant Hepatology Milestones 2.0. Gastroenterology. 2021.
Mamunes AP, Campisano F, Martin J, Scaglioni B, Mazomenos E, Valdastri P, Obstein KL. Magnetic flexible endoscope for colonoscopy: an initial learning curve analysis. Endosc Int Open. 2021.
Sedlack RE, Coyle WJ, Obstein KL, et al. ASGE’s assessment of competency in endoscopy evaluation tools for colonoscopy and EGD. Gastrointest Endosc. 2014.
LeCompte M, Stewart M, Harris T, Rives G, Guth C, Ehrenfeld J, Sexton K, Terhune K. See one, do one, teach one: A randomized controlled study evaluating the benefit of autonomy in surgical education. Am J Surg. 2019.

Medical Devices & Waveform Analysis

Hayat MA, Wu J, Stephens S, Jensen H, Villafranca AA, Sanford J, Sexton KW, Jensen MO. Modeling peripheral arterial and venous pressure signals with integral pulse frequency modulation. Biomedical Signal Processing and Control. 2023.
Crimmins-Pierce LD, Bonvillain GP, Henry KR, Hayat MA, Villafranca AA, Stephens SE, Jensen HK, Sanford JA, Wu J, Sexton KW, Jensen MO. Critical Information from High Fidelity Arterial and Venous Pressure Waveforms During Anesthesia and Hemorrhage. Cardiovascular Engineering and Technology. 2022.
Al-Alawi AZ, Henry KR, Crimmins LD, et al. Anesthetics affect peripheral venous pressure waveforms and the cross-talk with arterial pressure. J Clin Monit Comput. 2022.
Bonasso PC, Sexton KW, Hayat MA, et al. Venous Physiology Predicts Dehydration in the Pediatric Population. J Surg Res. 2019.

Trauma, Surgery & Outcomes

Moore B, Daniels KJ, Martinez B, Sexton KW, Kalkwarf KJ, Roberts M, Bowman SM, Jensen HK. Intensive Care Unit Readmissions in a Level I Trauma Center. J Surg Res. 2025.
Williams TB, Parker P, Bimali M, et al. Registered nurse effect on long length of stay in the heart failure hospitalizations of African Americans. PLoS One. 2025.
Sharma M, Brown AW, Chung S, Sexton KW, Schootman M, Mourani PM. Race Is an Incomplete Surrogate for Skin Pigmentation in Neonates, with Potential Relevance for Pulse Oximetry. J Pediatr. 2025.
Roden-Foreman JW, Rapier NR, Foreman ML, et al (incl. Sexton KW). Rethinking the definition of major trauma. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2019.

A complete list spanning 110+ peer-reviewed publications is available via the team members’ individual profiles linked above.

Research

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The KEV.AI Lab works across two interlocking research programs, united by a single commitment: making medical expertise computable and trustworthy.

Research Themes

1. AI for Medical Education

Engineering AI tutors, simulators, and competency-based assessment systems that transmit clinical expertise at scale — and validating that what learners acquire actually matches what experts know.

Core questions:

How can large language models be engineered into reliable, safe, pedagogically sound clinical tutors?
What evaluation frameworks move beyond “does it sound right” to “does it teach correctly”?
How do adaptive learning systems close competency gaps across the 17-million-strong healthcare workforce — not just physicians?

2. Clinical Knowledge Extraction & Validation

Building and validating AI pipelines that transform unstructured electronic health record data into research-grade evidence for registries, quality programs, and clinical trials.

KEV.AI Lab

About the KEV.AI Lab

Mission

Adria Abella Villafranca

Bio

Carly M. Eckert, MD, PhD, MPH

Bio

Contact

General Inquiries

By Topic

Research collaborations, grants, and academic partnerships

SchoolMe (medical education AI platform)

Media & speaking engagements

Trainee inquiries and joining the lab

Mailing Address

Lab Members

Social & Professional Profiles

Join Us

Who We’re Looking For

Keith L. Obstein, MD, MPH

Bio

Kevin W. Sexton, MD, FACS

Bio

News & Media

2026

May 2026 — AMCAIM Podcast Appearance

April 2026 — SUS Membership Application (forthcoming)

March 2026 — SAGES Annual Meeting

Partners & Collaborators

Portfolio Companies & Spin-Outs

SchoolMe

BRIM Analytics

Publications

AI & Machine Learning in Medicine

Knowledge Engineering, Ontologies & Semantic Interoperability

Clinical Informatics & Decision Support

Medical Education & Simulation

Medical Devices & Waveform Analysis

Trauma, Surgery & Outcomes

Research

Research Themes

1. AI for Medical Education

2. Clinical Knowledge Extraction & Validation