Pål Halvorsen serves as a Research Professor and Head of the Holistic Systems Department at Simula Research Laboratory, a prominent independent research institute in Norway. His work spans multiple interdisciplinary domains with a strong focus on applying artificial intelligence to solve complex problems in healthcare, medical imaging, and multimedia systems. As department head, he leads research initiatives that bridge computer science with practical applications in clinical settings and sports analytics. Halvorsen's research interests are deeply interdisciplinary, focusing on the intersection of artificial intelligence, medical applications, and multimedia systems. His work in medical AI particularly emphasizes gastrointestinal disease detection, polyp segmentation in colonoscopy procedures, and explainable AI systems that provide transparency in medical decision-making. In the sports domain, he develops advanced video analytics for soccer and ice hockey, creating AI-based systems for event detection, player tracking, and content optimization for social media. His research on multimodal data analysis addresses critical challenges in healthcare, including missing data imputation and the integration of diverse data sources for improved clinical outcomes. His recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on practical AI applications that address real-world challenges, with particular emphasis on validation frameworks that bridge the gap between theoretical AI models and clinical implementation. Halvorsen's work often involves large-scale dataset creation, such as the OBF-Psychiatric dataset for mental health research and various sports analytics datasets, which have become valuable resources for the research community. Halvorsen's publication record shows a clear trend toward developing robust, clinically validated AI systems with strong emphasis on explainability and transparency. His research spans gastrointestinal endoscopy, cardiology (particularly ECG analysis), sports analytics, and psychiatric applications, with a common thread of addressing the practical challenges of implementing AI in real-world settings. The work consistently focuses on validation frameworks, benchmarking studies, and the development of datasets that advance the state of the art while addressing the practical limitations of current AI systems in healthcare and multimedia applications. While specific awards aren't mentioned in the available information, Halvorsen has established himself as a leader in organizing major research challenges including the Medico Multimedia Task at MediaEval, ImageCLEFmedical, and various Grand Challenges focused on detecting cheapfakes and AI-based video production for soccer. His leadership in these community-wide evaluation efforts has significantly contributed to advancing research methodologies in medical AI and multimedia systems. Halvorsen's collaborative approach is evident across his extensive publication record, which shows consistent partnerships with medical professionals, computer scientists, and domain experts across multiple institutions. His work on child interview training systems demonstrates collaboration with psychology and forensic experts, while his medical imaging research involves close partnerships with gastroenterologists and clinicians. This interdisciplinary collaboration model appears to be central to his research philosophy, ensuring that technical solutions address genuine domain challenges. His leadership of the Holistic Systems Department suggests he oversees multiple research teams working on diverse but interconnected projects spanning healthcare AI, sports analytics, and multimedia systems development.
