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).

February 2026 — Rockefeller Bellagio Center EOI

Expression of Interest submitted with Kyla Terhune, MD (SVP Education, American College of Surgeons) for a project on multimodal AI and global healthcare workforce training.

February 2026 — Academic Surgical Congress

20th Annual Academic Surgical Congress — lab-affiliated presentations on preoperative optimization and other work.

January 2026 — Society for Technology in Anesthesia

Kev Sexton delivers invited talk on “Wearables for dehydration and hemorrhage.”

2025

Highlights

  • ARPA-H BRIM Analytics awarded — $1.98M for Democratized, AI-Guided Chart Abstraction Platform (Co-I: K. Sexton; PI: D. Fabbri).
  • Magnetic Flexible Endoscope Phase 1 First-in-Human Trial published in Am J Gastroenterol — K. Obstein senior author.
  • Vanderbilt Lab for Immersive AI Translation (VALIANT) Mentor role — K. Sexton.
  • Berry Society Annual Lecture at Carilion Clinic — invited talk on surgical innovation programs.

Invited Talks

  • ATLS Global Symposium — “Enhancing Trauma Education in Resource-Limited Settings through AI-based Virtual Patients” (March 2025)
  • AMIA Clinical Informatics Workshop — “Increasing diversity: underrepresented medical specialties in clinical informatics” (May 2025)
  • Selig Symposium for Surgical Artificial Intelligence, Medical College of Wisconsin — “From scalpel to silicon” (2024; recurring thread)

2024

Highlights

  • October 2024 — K. Sexton joins Vanderbilt as Helen and Nicholas Abumrad Director, Vice Chair for Innovation.
  • September 2024 — ARPA-H award officially begins.
  • NIH T32 TR004918 (HSIE Training Program) renewed — $948K, PI: K. Sexton.
  • K. Obstein named Assistant Dean for Simulation in Medical Education and Director of CELA.
  • K. Obstein named Innovator of the Year, Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2023).

Media & External Coverage

This section will be populated as coverage accumulates. For media inquiries, see the Contact page.

Podcasts

  • AMCAIM Podcast (upcoming May 2026)
  • BioVentures Podcast (recorded)

Articles & Interviews

  • Coverage of SchoolMe’s adaptive learning platform (forthcoming)

Speaking & Invited Talks (selected)

A sampling of invited talks by lab members. Full lists on individual bio pages.

  • SAGES 2025 — “Smart and Safe: Bringing AI on Board” (K. Sexton)
  • University of Kentucky Department of Surgery Grand Rounds — “Sewing together a career in surgery and entrepreneurship” (K. Sexton, 2024)
  • Fuel Healthtech Accelerator — “Healthtech Enterprise Sales” (K. Sexton, 2023, 2024)
  • AR Conductor Healthcare Innovation Sprint — “Introduction to healthcare innovation” (K. Sexton, annual since 2021)
  • Arkansas Statewide Stroke Conference — “Digital health and artificial intelligence update” (K. Sexton, 2023)

Follow the Lab

For ongoing updates: