Nepal-based researchers bring global health AI dialogue to a wider audience

KATHMANDU: Internal medicine physician Dr. Kiran Raj Pandey and artificial intelligence (AI) expert Bishesh Khanal always had an eagerness to connect with international-level knowledge production based on health policy. The podcast series ‘Dialogues in Health AI’ is the result of that drive.

According to Dr. Pandey, this dialogue series serves as a platform for researchers, physicians, policymakers, and innovators to exchange experiences, learnings, and knowledge based on scientific research. The dialogue primarily aims to discuss and explore opportunities, challenges, and realities of AI in the health sector. “It discusses regional and global contemporary health systems,” he says.

The dialogue series was launched through collaboration between the World Health Organization South-East Asia Regional Office (WHO SEARO) and the Lalitpur-based Nepal Applied Mathematics and Informatics Institute (NAAMII). At NAAMII, Khanal serves as Director and Founding President, while Dr. Pandey works as a clinical researcher.

The first episode featured a 1-hour and 10-minute discussion with Dr. Anurag Agrawal, Dean of Biosciences and Health Research at Ashoka University’s Trivedi School of Biosciences.

Pandey states that starting the dialogue series became possible after WHO SEARO and NAAMII initiated collaboration to make rural and community health services effective using AI. According to a press release issued by WHO on June 3, 2026, NAAMII will function as a ‘Collaborating Center’ to identify real health problems at rural and community levels, seek solutions through AI, gather evidence for them, prepare necessary frameworks, and develop the capacity of necessary human resources.

WHO has so far recognized only the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology and the SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Center in Nepal as such ‘Collaborating Centers.’ It recognized Tilganga in 2019 and the SAARC Tuberculosis Center in 2000. WHO follows the practice of collaborating with such institutions when conducting health-related scientific research.

Researcher Bishesh Khanal and Dr. Kiran Raj Pandey

‘Dialogues in Health AI’ is being broadcast on NAAMII’s YouTube channel. In the first episode broadcast on August 15, a 1-hour and some 10-minute-long conversation was held with Dr. Anurag Agrawal, dean of Bioscience and Health Research at Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University. The conversation mainly focused on the challenges and opportunities of AI in the health sector. Terming the growing dependence on the online realm as ‘digital diabetes,’ the dialogue also discussed its risks to health, impact on efficiency, and the future.

In the second episode of the podcast broadcast on September 15, a dialogue was held with Dr. Nitchanund Tantisirivit, Deputy Director of the Digital Health Bureau at Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health, regarding how AI transformed Thailand’s health system. Additionally, various topics were covered, including the importance and necessity of AI infrastructure in health systems, the changes AI brings to health service delivery, and AI health governance. Dr. Pandey and Khanal themselves are involved as podcast hosts.

According to Ranjana Koirala, AI in Health Research Project Manager at NAAMII, the team is currently preparing one episode per month.

Researcher Khanal states that preparations are underway to converse with experts in digital health and health in AI in upcoming episodes of the dialogue. Khanal, who holds a PhD in ‘Brain Deformation Modeling from MRIs in Alzheimer’s Disease,’ shared that upcoming episodes will feature conversations with domain experts regarding AI applications in healthcare over the past 10 years, scientific discoveries, and resource constraints.

According to Ranjana Koirala, AI in Health Research Project Manager at NAAMII, the team is currently preparing one episode per month. She emphasized that the primary goal of the podcast is to provide listeners, policymakers, and stakeholders with practical insights and useful guidance.