Lunch Talk: Dr. Mina Jamshidi "Rethinking Explainability in Digital Pathology: Beyond Heatmaps"

Join us for our Lunch Talk in May 2026. We’re very happy that Mina Jamshidi will talk about her work "Rethinking Explainability in Digital Pathology: Beyond Heatmaps". Verlinkung zum LinkedIn Profil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-mina-jamshidi-03954684/

Abstract:

Explainable AI (xAI) in digital pathology has largely been driven by multiple instance learning (MIL), enabling slide-level prediction from routine histology without dense annotations. However, current explanation paradigms remain fragmented: heatmaps provide spatial insight, but their validity often depends on pathologist interpretation and is not exempt from confirmation bias. In this talk, I will outline our research line, which aims to consolidate the use of xAI in histopathology by bringing together three complementary perspectives. First, from a methodological angle, we question the common reliance on attention heatmaps and discuss the need for systematic validation to assess whether explanations faithfully reflect model behavior. Second, from an application perspective, we illustrate how explaining MIL models can be used to derive spatially resolved, biologically meaningful signals with potential prognostic relevance. Finally, we move beyond heatmaps as purely visual tools and introduce symbolic xMIL, a framework that represents model reasoning in terms of logical rules describing interactions between morphological features. Overall, we argue that xAI in computational pathology should be viewed not just as a qualitative visualization tool, but as a quantitative and interpretable interface between data-driven models and biological reasoning, enabling systematic slide-level and cohort-level analysis and hypothesis generation.

The BIFOLD Lunch Talk series gives BIFOLD members and external partners the opportunity to engage in dialogue about their research in Machine Learning and Big Data. Each Lunch Talk offers BIFOLD members, fellows and colleagues from other research institutes the chance to present their research and to network with each other.

The Lunch Talk takes place at BIFOLD and online. For further information on the Lunch Talks and registration, contact Dr. Laura Wollenweber via email.