Syntho Joins University of Amsterdam (UvA)-Led ELSA Lab for Fair and Inclusive AI in Healthcare

Syntho, a leading provider of privacy-preserving synthetic data solutions, is proud to announce its partnership in the ELSA Lab AI for Fair Healthcare, a research initiative supported by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Led by the University of Amsterdam (UvA), The ELSA Lab aims to ensure artificial intelligence (AI) is developed and applied in a fair, inclusive, and trustworthy way, especially for underrepresented and vulnerable groups in healthcare.

Fair AI Through Synthetic Data 

AI has the potential to transform healthcare, but if not developed carefully, it risks reinforcing existing inequalities. A major cause of this problem is biased data. AI systems often underperform for population groups that are underrepresented in the data used to train them, which leads to systemic gaps in care and digital solutions.

At Syntho, we’ve explored this issue in our blog, “AI’s Unseen Culprit: Unravelling the Bias Within”, which highlights how biased data can perpetuate inequality, and how synthetic data can help solve this by generating high-quality, privacy-preserving datasets that are more inclusive and representative.

As one of the partners of ELSA Lab, Syntho will play a key role in enabling responsible AI innovation by providing synthetic data technology that enables equitable development. Our solution allows researchers and developers to train and validate AI systems on diverse, representative data without compromising individual privacy.

“At Syntho, we believe that data privacy and data fairness must go hand in hand. Through this collaboration, we’re enabling researchers and healthcare innovators to develop AI systems that not only respect privacy but actively contribute to a more inclusive healthcare future.” Said Simon Brouwer, Co-Founder & CTO of Syntho.

A Diverse Interdisciplinary Network for Impact

The ELSA Lab brings together partners from academia, healthcare, government, and private industry:

• Academic institutions: Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Utrecht University, Radboud University, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
• Civil society organizations: Stichting Gezondheid Allochtonen Nederland (SGAN), Stichting MIND, Ben Sajet Centrum, Vilans, Koninklijke Auris Groep, Centre for Urban Mental Health, Amsterdam AI, GGD Amsterdam
• Industry partners: ITSLanguage, Studio OOK, and Syntho

Together, we aim to address systemic bias in AI by:

• Mapping problems related to bias and inequality in AI systems
• Developing solutions for an inclusive digital healthcare infrastructure
• Taking existing regulations like the GDPR into account
• Working toward guidelines that make AI fairer and more inclusive

For more information about the partnership between Syntho and  ELSA Lab, please contact Simon Brouwer (simon@syntho.ai).