Matthias Hehr is a Visiting Researcher at the Vector Institute, a physician and a Clinical AI Consultant at Helmholtz Munich, where he works at the interface between machine learning research and clinical practice. He studied human medicine at LMU Munich and started his pediatric residency at LMU University Hospital with a focus on pediatric oncology and neonatology. His doctoral research at Helmholtz Munich developed deep learning models to distinguish genetic subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia from cytomorphology in peripheral blood smears. This is his second time at Vector: in 2023 he already held a joint position between the Vector Institute and The Hospital for Sick Children, developing and evaluating convolutional networks for process optimization in pediatric emergency care. Now, he is back at this intersection of medical practice and artificial intelligence to contribute to projects of the SickKids Artificial Intelligence program (SKAI).

His current research interests are: (1) clinical translation; the validation, workflow integration, and regulatory conditions under which a model moves from publication to routine care, and why comparatively few do; (2) AI in pediatrics, where smaller datasets, greater physiological heterogeneity, and higher stakes mean that methods developed on adult populations rarely transfer unchanged; and (3) AI literacy among clinicians, so that physicians can assess these systems critically rather than apply them uncritically. The third interest dates back to 2020, when he co-founded OneAIM (formerly LMU AIM) and developed a structured curriculum on artificial intelligence in medicine for medical students.