Dartmouth Creates Center for Precision Health and Artificial Intelligence

June 21, 2023

Center is being launched with initial funding of $2 million from the Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth Cancer Center

David Raths

Dartmouth University has created a Center for Precision Health and Artificial Intelligence (CPHAI) to spur interdisciplinary research that can better leverage—as well as more safely and ethically deploy—biomedical data in assessing and treating patients and improving their healthcare outcomes.

The center is being launched with initial funding of $2 million from the Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth Cancer Center and is based in the Williamson Translational Research Building, a Dartmouth-owned building on the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center campus in Lebanon, N.H.

By harnessing the power of AI and machine learning, CPHAI will seek create a toolbox of digital technologies that will empower providers to identify and deliver the most effective health care strategy for each patient.

Researchers will work on projects such as developing AI-driven diagnostic tools, optimizing treatment strategies, and analyzing biomedical data to inform public health policies.

AI models created through collaborations with radiologists and pathologists will be able to draw precise and complex inferences directly from medical images that complement the knowledge and experience of human imaging professionals and make diagnoses more reliable and efficient, reducing potential diagnostic errors.

The center will also enable researchers to evaluate new digital tools they develop in clinical settings, paving the way for creating and building applications that can be integrated into health care systems after seeking FDA approval.

“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,” said Saeed Hassanpour, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical data science, epidemiology, and computer science, in a statement. Hassanpour serves as the center’s inaugural director.

CPHAI will be governed by the dean of Geisel and advised by a committee that will have representatives and stakeholders from Geisel, Dartmouth Cancer Center, Thayer School of Engineering, Arts and Sciences, and Dartmouth Health.