Fay Cobb Payton, PhD, MBA, Executive Director of the Institute for Data, Research and Innovation Science (IDRIS) at Rutgers University – Newark. IDRIS is a member of the Quality Institute’s Education Council.

What inspired Rutgers University to launch IDRIS?

IDRIS was launched as part of Rutgers University Academic Affairs’ broader Roadmaps to Excellence initiative, which emphasizes academic excellence and research across all Rutgers campuses — Camden, New Brunswick, Newark, and Rutgers Health. We’re located at Rutgers–Newark and focus on technology/AI and the intersection of field domains using a social-technical model. We are examining and interrogating technology — and its implications around ethical and responsible use and social impacts.

This means not only examining technical advances, but also their social and ethical implications. IDRIS is an interdisciplinary initiative housed in the chancellor’s office and involved in each school on campus.  It is also an organizing hub for applied social, ethical, and responsible scholarship in data science and emerging technologies.

How does IDRIS define and approach the concept of “wicked problems”, and how do these shape your research agenda?

We define wicked problems as those where multiple models and multiple disciplines are needed to develop, interpret, and evaluate solutions. Health care is an example of a domain that consistently faces this challenge.  Our research agenda enables us to leverage the knowledge in law, public administration, criminal justice, arts and sciences fields and business, thereby including interdisciplinarity across the Rutgers University – Newark enterprise.

As Executive Director of IDRIS and a key contributor to New Jersey’s 2024 AI Task Force report to Governor Murphy, how do you envision translating statewide AI policy recommendations into real-world impact through IDRIS?

In the report, we talk about New Jersey being a hub for AI innovation and growing the economic engine within the state, but also establishing a New Jersey AI ecosystem. How does IDRIS play into that? Through the Roadmaps Initiative, we are collaborating across Rutgers campuses and bringing in industry partners that can collaborate with us to strengthen that ecosystem. We are looking to partner with organizations not only in New Jersey, but also nationally/globally. We’re examining how our teaching will need to evolve, and we’re looking at workforce development and literacy. Our role will require partnerships and collaborations.

Looking ahead, what is your vision for IDRIS in advancing equitable health data practices, and how do you see its role evolving in the next 3 to 5 years?

Much of my research has focused on health care at the intersection of episodes of diseases, whether it’s breast cancer, mental health, or diabetes. At IDRIS, we are very much involved with Rutgers Health and looking to partner nationally. Representative data, along with ethical and responsible guiding principles, are critical to IDRIS as we engage in the development, training, and evaluation of AI models and the recommendations generated.  This naturally impacts the quality of health care delivery and treatment. That’s how I see the role of IDRIS over the next three to five years. But also serving as a place where researchers, the community, and practitioners can convene to have these and other meaningful conversations.

Finally, we like to ask a question beyond a person’s professional life. Can you share an experience that shaped who you are today?

Oh wow. There are lots of them. My decision to move into academic life, if I had to choose one. I’ve worked in higher education, government, and the private sector. Being able to leverage those understandings has really helped me today.