PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Melissa McCradden

Melissa McCradden is a bioethicist whose work builds evidence-based frameworks for the ethical evaluation of AI and other new technologies in hospital and community health settings. She earned a PhD in neuroscience at McMaster University and a bioethics master's at the University of Toronto, and in 2019 she became the inaugural Ethics of AI in Healthcare postdoctoral fellow at SickKids and the Vector Institute. At SickKids she was a bioethicist and the John and Melinda Thompson Director of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, wrote on research ethics for clinical machine learning, and coauthored a 2023 JAMA Network Open study of youth perspectives on health AI. In 2025 she was first author of the Nature Medicine paper on CANAIRI, the Collaboration for Translational Artificial Intelligence Trials in healthcare, and InDaily SA named her a Top 40 Under 40 finalist. She is Artificial Intelligence Director and Deputy Research Director at the Women's and Children's Health Network and a Deputy Director at the Australian Institute for Machine Learning at the University of Adelaide, and she leads Project CANAIRI, which is developing guidance for silent trials of health AI.

Now at
Women's and Children's Health Network and University of Adelaide

Timeline

  1. 2010–2020

    Neuroscience PhD, then bioethics

    She earns a PhD in Neuroscience at McMaster University in Hamilton from 2010 to 2017, and a Master of Health Sciences in Bioethics at the University of Toronto's Joint Centre for Bioethics from 2017 to 2020. Her graduate thesis explores the neuropsychiatric sequelae of sport-related concussion in youth athletes.

  2. 2017–2019

    Inaugural AI ethics fellow

    She is a postdoctoral fellow in neurosurgery at St. Michael's Hospital/Unity Health in Toronto from 2017 to 2019. In 2019, she becomes the inaugural Ethics of AI in Healthcare postdoctoral fellow at The Hospital for Sick Children and the Vector Institute, jointly trained in computer science and bioethics.

  3. 2020–2022

    Research ethics for clinical AI

    In 2020, she coauthors the Nature Medicine paper 'Clinical research underlies ethical integration of healthcare artificial intelligence'. In 2022, she is first author of 'A Research Ethics Framework for the Clinical Translation of Healthcare Machine Learning' in the American Journal of Bioethics.

  4. 2021

    Bioethicist and AIM director at SickKids

    In November 2021, she coauthors the Healthy Debate article 'Children must be heard as we envision AI's role in health care' with Kelly Thai and Randi Zlotnik Shaul. She is a bioethicist in the Department of Bioethics at The Hospital for Sick Children and an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Her SickKids roles include the John and Melinda Thompson Director of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, where as Integration Lead she provides organizational guidance on responsible integration of clinical AI systems that affect patient care.

  5. 2023

    Youth views on health AI

    In 2023, she coauthors 'Perspectives of Youths on the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care Research and Clinical Care' in JAMA Network Open. Her youth research uses interviews, focus groups and workshops to bring the values of young people into policies and practices governing health AI.

  6. 2025–2026

    Leading Project CANAIRI

    In 2025, she is first author of the Nature Medicine paper 'CANAIRI: the Collaboration for Translational Artificial Intelligence Trials in healthcare'. She leads Project CANAIRI, which is developing guidance for silent trials so that health settings are ready to use AI in a beneficial way. In February 2026, a global scoping review of silent trials led by Adelaide University researchers and published in Nature Health, with her as co-author, finds a lack of clear guidelines for this early testing of health AI.

  7. 2025

    A Top 40 Under 40 finalist

    InDaily SA names her a finalist in its Top 40 Under 40 in 2025.

  8. As of October 2026

    AI director and AIML deputy director

    She is Artificial Intelligence Director and Deputy Research Director at the Women's and Children's Health Network, and a Deputy Director and Hospital Research Foundation Group Fellow at the Australian Institute for Machine Learning at the University of Adelaide. Her research focuses on novel technologies, including artificial intelligence, and on evidence-based frameworks for their ethical evaluation in hospital and community health settings. In 2026, she is first author of a BMJ Open protocol for a silent trial of an AI scribe in a paediatric developmental assessment clinic in South Australia.

Career

  1. NowWomen's and Children's Health NetworkArtificial Intelligence Director and Deputy Research Director
  2. NowUniversity of AdelaideDeputy Director; Hospital Research Foundation Group Fellow
  3. From 2019Hospital for Sick ChildrenEthics of AI in Healthcare Postdoctoral Fellow
  4. From 2019Vector InstituteEthics of AI in Healthcare Postdoctoral Fellow
  5. 2017–2019Unity Health TorontoPostdoctoral Fellow in Neurosurgery
  6. University of TorontoAssistant Professor

Education

  1. 2020University of TorontoMaster of Health Sciences in Bioethics
  2. 2017McMaster UniversityPhD

From the biography.

  1. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIIncludes University of Adelaide. We estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Adelaide. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Adelaide. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Adelaide. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Melissa McCradden yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Melissa McCradden sickkids.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. APrf Melissa McCradden | Researcher Profiles | Adelaide University researchers.adelaide.edu.au. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Melissa McCradden - Healthy Debate healthydebate.ca. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Calls for Global Guidelines for Safer AI Use in Medicine | Newswise newswise.com. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Women to watch: The leaders shaping Australia's AI landscape - Women's Agenda womensagenda.com.au. Checked 21 October 2026.