On April 1, Professor Kai Lawonn will join ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig as AI professor for Computer Vision. He will strengthen Leipzig University‘s research in computer vision, image processing, and visualization.

How can we consistently approach the use of Artificial Intelligence from the perspective of the people who ultimately have to use it? This question forms the basis of Professor Lawonn’s research, who specializes in the decoding and visualization of medical data. Particularly in the case of vascular diseases, he uses AI-supported visualization to precisely process large and complex medical data, thereby turning it into a genuine, well-founded decision-making aid for the medical profession: “I make the invisible visible. In my research, we develop tools that transform overwhelming amounts of abstract data into understandable visuals and interactions. Our goal is to empower people to intuitively grasp complex relationships. Then, they won’t have to blindly trust data-driven systems like AI. They’ll be able to understand their logic and actively use it.”

From Abstract Data to Explainable AI

One example of Lawonn’s work is the development of a sensor-based support system for tumor surgery. He is developing this system in collaboration with Jena University Hospital, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and the Technical University of Ilmenau. The system uses multimodal, markerless imaging combined with AI-based real-time analysis to detect and visualize the current tumor margin during surgery. It then conveys this information to surgeons through haptic and visual feedback, enabling them to use it immediately for decision-making.

Kai Lawonn is not only active in the fields of medicine and life sciences, but also develops new, interactive ways to access scientific data. These approaches are designed to make the data explainable, and thus understandable and open to scrutiny.

“It is great news that Kai Lawonn is joining ScaDS.AI Leipzig. He will substantially strengthen Leipzig’s position in visual computing with his broad work on computer vision, image processing, and visualization. Leipzig University is fortunate to have one of the recipients of the prestigious Heinz-Maier-Leibnitz Prize (2021) join its faculty. This prize is awarded by the German Research Foundation to the best young researchers in their fields.” (Gerik Scheuermann, Director of ScaDS.AI)

Research Focus and Expected Contribution of Kai Lawonn

As a professor of AI at ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig, Kai Lawonn’s primary goal is to promote the integration of research, teaching, and support for early-career researchers. “I want to not only provide young talents with technical training, but also inspire them to develop sustainable and socially responsible AI solutions.”

He will continue to dedicate his research to explainable and trustworthy AI, with a focus on visual analysis and the human-AI interface in medicine and the life sciences. Lawonn is particularly drawn to the combination of excellent infrastructure, in-depth basic research, and practical applications at ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig.

„Image processing is a key research area at ScaDS.AI given its many applications in medicine, life sciences, or environmental sciences. I look forward to Kai Lawonn putting Leipzig on the map, also in the area of method development for these technologies“. (Prof. Jens Meiler Director of ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig)

Academic Career

Kai Lawonn earned his Ph.D. in computer science from University Magdeburg and completed his habilitation in computational visualistics in 2017. From 2015 to 2019, he was an assistant professor of medical visualization at the University of Koblenz-Landau. In 2019, he moved to Friedrich Schiller University Jena, also as an assistant professor. Since 2021, he has served as a professor of visualization and exploratory data analysis at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. Through numerous national and international visits to institutions, he has strengthened his expertise in interdisciplinary collaboration with other research fields.