Pouyan Esmaeilzadeh, Ph.D. | AI in Healthcare Researcher & Educator

About

I joined FIU in 2014 and have spent the past decade building a research program at the intersection of information systems and health informatics. I hold a Ph.D. in Management from University Putra Malaysia, an MBA from the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University, and a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering. My work has been recognized with a Fulbright Award, the AI 360 Research Fellowship, and the Knight-Ridder Research Fellowship, and includes an active collaboration with the National Institutes of Health on AI for youth mental health. Beyond research, I direct FIU's MBA in Business Analytics program, serve on the university's AI governance efforts, and speak regularly with South Florida media about AI, robotics, LLMs, blockchain, and cryptocurrency.

Research

My research goes beyond studying whether people adopt new technologies. It focuses on how emerging technologies can be developed and deployed in healthcare to create real value for different stakeholders: patients, clinicians, healthcare organizations, and society.

AI + LLMs

AI & large language models in clinical settings

Experimental and mixed-methods studies of how patients and clinicians interact with AI, from LLM-assisted patient portals and triage to ambient AI for nursing handoffs and medical chatbots.

AI Agents

AI agents in organizations

How organizations can develop, deploy, and govern AI agents, with a special focus on agentic AI in healthcare workflows and decision-making.

Ethics

AI ethics & governance in healthcare

Clinician perspectives on the ethical integration of LLMs in care, privacy and security challenges of generative AI in medicine, and AI risk management frameworks for organizations.

HIE

Health information exchange

A long-running program on how privacy policy, data entry structures, trust, and incentives shape whether patients and providers share health information across organizations.

Adoption

Technology adoption & post-adoption behavior

Theory-driven studies of why individuals embrace or resist emerging technologies such as health apps, wearables, telehealth, care robots, and mental health chatbots.

Blockchain

Blockchain, crypto & decentralized health data

From incentives in blockchain-based health data sharing platforms to individual adoption of Bitcoin and spot Bitcoin ETPs, and the potential of NFTs for health information exchange.

Aging

Robotics & healthy aging

Mixed-methods explorations of how older adults perceive robotic companions and smart care technologies as partners in independent, healthy aging.

Selected publications

My work appears in leading information systems and health informatics venues, including Information & Management, the Journal of Medical Internet Research, the Journal of Biomedical Informatics, Computers in Human Behavior, the International Journal of Medical Informatics, and Artificial Intelligence in Medicine.

Intl. J. Medical Informatics · 2026

Embedding LLMs in the patient portal to summarize acute minor illness information: a three-arm experimental study

Intl. J. Quality in Health Care · 2026

Patient safety and quality implications of large language model use in healthcare: a risk-stratified assessment of AI-assisted medical consultations

BMC Med. Informatics · 2025

Ethical implications of using general-purpose LLMs in clinical settings: a comparative analysis of prompt engineering strategies and their impact on patient safety

Applied Clinical Informatics · 2025

Baseline evaluation of Claude Opus 4 for diabetes management: a preliminary assessment and lessons for implementation

J. Health Admin. Education · 2025

Integrating AI and metaverse technologies in health administration: a qualitative study of robotic surgery training

With S. Esnaashari

Behaviour & IT · 2025

AI-human interactions in healthcare: exploring users' post-adoption behaviors of AI mental health chatbots

With K. Hassanein & M. Head (McMaster University)

AI in Medicine · 2024

Challenges and strategies for wide-range artificial intelligence deployment in healthcare practices

A perspective for healthcare organizations

Health Systems

AI-enhanced health information exchange systems: a systematic review of implementation challenges and opportunities

With M. Maddah

JMIR

Patients' perceptions toward human-artificial intelligence interaction in health care: experimental study

JMIR

Role of incentives in the use of blockchain-based platforms for sharing sensitive health data: experimental study

With T. Mirzaei

Info & Management

Engagement in online health communities: channel expansion and social exchanges

BMC Med. Informatics · 2020

Use of AI-based tools for healthcare purposes: a survey study from consumers' perspectives

Intl. J. Medical Informatics

The impact of data entry structures on perceptions of individuals with chronic conditions toward health information sharing

Full list on Google Scholar ORCID Profile FIU Faculty Page

Teaching & program leadership

As Director of the MBA in Business Analytics, I lead a program preparing professionals to make data-driven and AI-informed decisions. In the classroom, I focus on making AI and analytics hands-on, current, and immediately usable. My recent courses are built around live tools, generative AI labs, and real datasets.

MBA · AI

Artificial Intelligence Strategy

ISM 6427: How organizations formulate and execute AI strategy, for the MBA in Artificial Intelligence program.

MBA · Gen AI

Generative AI in Business

ISM 6467: Hands-on generative AI labs, prompt engineering, and a startup-studio capstone where students build with AI.

MBA · IS

Management of Information Systems

ISM 6021: Core IS management for Professional MBA and Healthcare MBA students.

Undergrad

Managing Digital Services & Innovation

ISM 4151: Digital service design and innovation management for Information Systems majors.

Healthcare MBA

Consumer Informatics

HIM 6694: Consumer-facing health information technologies and analytics for healthcare leaders.

Honors

AI and the Future of Human Beings

IDH 3035: Honors College seminar exploring how AI is reshaping work, creativity, ethics, and what it means to be human.

Public engagement

Media

Media commentary

Regular conversations with South Florida newspapers, radio, and TV about AI, robotics, LLMs, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFTs, translating research into plain language for the public.

Panels

Panels & conferences

Frequent panelist and participant in panels and conferences on AI, healthcare, and emerging technology, including events at FIU, South Florida HIMSS, AI 305, and AMCIS.

Content

AI education content

Creator of instructional videos and educational content that make practical AI skills accessible to general audiences. Watch a selection in the Videos section below.

Service

Academic service

Reviewer for information systems and health informatics journals and conferences, dissertation committee member, and Association for Information Systems member.

Mentoring