Associate Professor
Contact
Steven L. Fernandes, PhD
Associate Professor
Steven L. Fernandes is a tenured Associate Professor of Computer Science at Creighton University. He teaches computer science, data science, and health informatics courses. His current research is on robust, trustworthy, and safe AI for healthcare and robotics. One line of work develops attribution-based confidence metrics and explainability methods for detecting adversarial attacks; another applies vision-language models to medical imaging; a third builds AI agents for healthcare. Before Creighton, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham on a medical imaging project funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and then at the University of Central Florida on projects in robust and trustworthy AI funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Teaching Interests
- Building Generative AI Applications, Software Engineering, Analytics in Health Informatics, Machine Learning, Computer Organization, Data Science Capstone, Object Oriented Programming
Research Focus
Department
Computer Science, Design and Journalism
Position
Associate Professor
Grants
TAKAI: Teaching Human Anatomy with Artificial Intelligence/Sponsor: Dr. George F. Haddix President's Faculty Research Grant
Interpretable Deepfake Detection: Leveraging Feature Attribution and One-Shot Test-Time Training for Improved Confidence Metrics and Visual Explainability/Sponsor: University of Nebraska, Lincoln/UNL
Enhancing Compassionate Palliative Care with AI: Respecting Human Dignity and Cultural Diversity/Sponsor: Kingfisher Institute
Navigating Difficult Conversations in Healthcare: The Use of AI Chatbots in Training Undergraduate and Graduate Nursing Students/Sponsor: CURAS Magis Investigatio Research Award/MIRA
AI Enhanced Fall Prevention/Sponsor: American Nurses Association
Enhancing Pharmacy Student Skills through AI-Driven Patient Counseling Simulations/Sponsor: Creighton University Center for Faculty Excellence/CFE
Integrating AI-Generated Feedback with the C-ICE 2.0 to Evaluate Interprofessional Team Behaviors in Emergency Simulations/Sponsor: Creighton University Center for Faculty Excellence/CFE
Developing a Custom Chatbot for Medical School Personal Statements/Sponsor: Creighton University Center for Faculty Excellence/CFE
Enhancing AI Feedback for Medical School Personal Statements/Sponsor: CURAS Magis Investigatio Research Award/MIRA
Development of a BMI/BP Calculator and Data Management System to Improve Health Outcomes/Sponsor: Criss Beirne Faculty Research Award
AI Chatbot for Training Nursing Students in De-escalating Verbal Aggression/Sponsor: Criss Beirne Faculty Research Award
Enhancing Dental Education Through Artificial Intelligence: Improving Student Detection of Tonsilloliths in Panoramic Radiographs/Sponsor: Creighton University Center for Faculty Excellence/CFE
Enhancing Pharmacy Student Skills Through AI-Driven Patient Counseling Simulations/Sponsor: Dr. George F. Haddix President's Faculty Research Grant
Sustainable Open-Source Software through Service Learning: Iteration and Longevity in Undergraduate Computing Projects Across Semesters/Sponsor: National Science Foundation/NSF
AI-Driven Detection and Equity-Centered Prevention of Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries (HAPIs)/Sponsor: Dr. George F. Haddix President's Faculty Research Grant
Bridging Disciplines in Collaborative Service-Learning Projects for Sustainable Open Source Initiatives/Sponsor: Dr. George F. Haddix President's Faculty Research Grant
Web-based, AI-Enhanced Shared Decision-Making Support System for Relapsed, Refractory Multiple Myeloma/Sponsor: Dr. George F. Haddix President's Faculty Research Grant
Improving Psychiatric Assessment Skills Through AI-Supported Interview Simulation/Sponsor: College of Nursing FIRE Seed Funding Award