Dartmouth Launches Center for Artificial Intelligence, Precision Medicine

Dartmouth launched its Center for Precision Health and Artificial Intelligence (CPHAI) this week, which is set to advance interdisciplinary research into how artificial intelligence (AI) and biomedical data can be used to improve precision medicine and health outcomes.

CPHAI’s launch is supported by $2 million in initial funding from Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the Dartmouth Cancer Center. The center’s research aims to improve public health and healthcare delivery while maintaining rigorous ethical standards for health AI, according to CPHAI’s website.

“Artificial intelligence is poised to play a transformative role in health care by delivering rapid and innovative solutions to real-world clinical challenges, improving patient outcomes, and creating better and more equitable access for all,” said Dartmouth president Philip J. Hanlon, PhD, in the news release announcing the launch. “This new center will help foster innovation and collaboration in these critically important fields.”

By utilizing technologies like AI and machine learning, CPHAI researchers hope to drive innovations in digital biomarkers, clinical decision-making, predictive analytics, and precision health. Projects undertaken within the center will focus on treatment strategy optimization, biomedical data analysis to inform public health policy, and AI-based diagnostic tool development.

The center will also allow researchers to evaluate new tools and technologies that they may develop in clinical settings before seeking United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, which the news release indicates may help approved tools be integrated into healthcare settings more efficiently.

“What makes CPHAI unique is its interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach to precision health and artificial intelligence, focusing not only on technological advancements but also on ethical and societal implications,” stated Saeed Hassanpour, PhD, CPHAI’s inaugural director and associate professor of biomedical data science, epidemiology, and computer science at Dartmouth.

CPHAI will collaborate with the Dartmouth Ethics Institute, Neukom Institute for Computational Science, and the Wright Center for the Study of Computation and Just Communities, to ensure the ethical use of health AI.

The release notes that these collaborations will help CPHAI address biases within datasets and AI tools, identify the limitations of health AI technologies, enhance privacy and transparency, and advance equitable outcomes for all.

The center will also focus on developing various technologies for use in radiology, including clinical decision support tools.

“From management of administrative clinical tasks to computer-aided detection of cancers, radiologists are already using AI,“ explained Jocelyn Chertoff, MD, chair and professor of radiology at Dartmouth Medical School. “Tools based on deep learning algorithms promise to transform the practice by helping radiologists better interpret images, make the process of producing images from scanners more accurate and efficient, and improve a hospital’s overall workflow so that patients get the most timely care.”

CPHAI leadership anticipates that the center will work with local and global healthcare stakeholders to create AI solutions informed by a wide variety of perspectives. In doing so, the center aims to build awareness and trust around the potential risks and benefits of health AI.