Ready to Strengthen Medical Diagnosis: UNM Student's AI Research for Cervical Cancer Detection Wins National Grant 2026

Universitas Nusa Mandiri (UNM), as a Digital Business Campus, continues to demonstrate its commitment to developing innovative technology-based research. This proud achievement comes from the Informatics Doctoral Programme, where student Esron Rikardo Nainggolan, M.Kom, has successfully obtained funding through the 2026 Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant (PDD). The grant was awarded for a research proposal titled “Integration of Segmentation-Free Convolutional Neural Networks and Feature Interpretation for Classification of Whole Slide Images in Cervical Cytology”. This research focuses on developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to enhance accuracy and efficiency in the early detection of cervical cancer through medical image analysis. The study is motivated by the need for faster, more accurate diagnostic methods that can be well interpreted by medical personnel. Using a segmentation-free approach, the developed model simplifies the analysis process without complex image segmentation stages while maintaining high accuracy levels. Additionally, the embedded interpretation features make the analysis results easier for doctors and healthcare workers to understand. In its implementation, Esron is supervised by Prof Dr Dwiza Riana and Dr Nita Merlina, who guide the research to ensure it has both scientific contributions and practical impacts in the field of digital health. UNM’s Vice Rector I for Academic Affairs, Dr Nita Merlina, praised this achievement as evidence of the quality of UNM’s doctoral student research. “This success shows that research at UNM is capable of addressing real societal challenges. We encourage students to produce innovations that are not only academically strong but also applicable and have broad impacts,” she stated in a press release on Wednesday (6/5/2026). Esron hopes his research will make a real contribution to the medical world. “I developed this research to help medical personnel detect cervical cancer earlier with fast, accurate, and easily interpretable results, thereby improving patient care quality,” he explained. This success is not only an individual achievement but also reflects the strength of the research ecosystem at UNM. Support for facilities, academic mentoring, and collaboration with experts are key factors in producing competitive research at the national level. UNM remains committed to promoting technology-based research, particularly in artificial intelligence and digital health. The results of this research are expected to be further developed to the implementation stage, including integration into medical decision support systems. With this achievement, UNM is optimistic about continuing to produce innovations that contribute not only to the academic world but also provide real impacts for society and national development in the digital transformation era.