NIH Grant to Fund AI-Driven Chronic Disease Disparity Project

Florida Atlantic University’s (FAU) Schmidt College of Medicine, the Caridad Center, Inc., and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have received a $500,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to fund a project aimed at combatting chronic disease disparities using EHRs, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The project, known as “Developing a Precise, Localized, Community Focused, Population Health Framework in an FQHC to Tackle Chronic Disease Disparities through EHR Data,” is part of the NIH’s larger “Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD)” initiative.

According to the press release, the AIM-AHEAD initiative aims to establish mutually beneficial partnerships to improve participation and representation of researchers from communities currently underrepresented in AI/ML research. It also seeks to enhance the capabilities of AI/ML technologies, starting with the use of EHRs and other data to tackle disparities.

FAU’s project will develop a national pilot model for implementing AI/ML in community health centers and federally qualified health centers to improve their delivery of these tools and their research operations. These organizations usually face significant challenges, such as establishing a suitable research environment, profiling patient populations, and identifying research cohorts, when using their EHR data for these efforts, the press release states.

“Little has been done to actively incorporate data derived from electronic health records of federally qualified health centers and community centers that directly serve underrepresented and disadvantaged groups burdened by health disparities,” said Janet Robishaw, PhD, principal investigator, chair of the Department of Biomedical Science, senior associate dean for research, and a professor of biomedical science at FAU Schmidt College of Medicine, in the press release.

“Although these centers serve as the primary source of medical care for communities affected by health disparities, they unfortunately lack adequate data, artificial intelligence and machine-learning capabilities needed to collect, collate and analyze substantial amounts of patient data,” she continued.

Using the NIH grant, researchers aim to combat these challenges with a tool called the University Research Informatics Data Environment (URIDE) in combination with AI, ML, and IoT. The platform aggregates and visualizes de-identified data from multiple clinical systems, allowing researchers to explore demographics, diagnoses, procedures, vitals, medications, labs, notes, allergies, comorbidities, and other information.

The project’s team will also establish a research environment to support cohort identification using these tools to conduct remote patient monitoring among those with cardiometabolic conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

This is the latest effort to leverage big data, EHRs, and IoT for chronic disease management and to address health disparities.

In 2017, the NIH established a new social epigenomics program to investigate the relationship between population health disparities, socioeconomic stressors, and gene expression.

Two years later, the agency would fund similar research through clinical trials focused on applying genomics to chronic disease management.

Last year, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities awarded the University of California–San Francisco a $22.5-million grant to research health disparities among chronic disease patients.