Purdue, partners to launch AI medicine center in Indianapolis
| Author: | Steven Martin |
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INDIANAPOLIS — Purdue University engineers and their collaborators will leverage the revolutionary power of artificial intelligence by launching the Center for AI and Robotic Excellence in Medicine (CARE) in Indianapolis.
CARE is a partnership between Purdue’s Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering, the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) and the Indiana University School of Medicine.
The center aligns with Purdue’s presidential One Health initiative, which involves research at the intersection of human, animal and plant health and well-being.
James H. and Barbara H. Green Professor of the Edwardson School Industrial Engineering, Juan Wachs, speaks to attendees at the AI & Robotics in Medicine Workshop in Indianapolis.
CARE mission and goals
Juan Wachs will serve as the center’s inaugural director. He is the James H. and Barbara H. Greene Professor in Industrial Engineering, a professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the IU School of Medicine.
“CARE’s mission is to transform health care and medicine by promoting collaboration among those developing and applying cutting-edge AI technologies and robotics for medicine,” Wachs said.
CARE’s primary goals are:
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Lead pioneering research in AI and machine learning with a focus on addressing critical health care challenges by bringing focused and center-level extramural support to campus for such work
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Establish strong partnerships between researchers and clinicians at Purdue, IU, IU School of Medicine and industry stakeholders
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Build the AI knowledge and skills to effectively allow clinicians to utilize AI in their practice from the bench to the bed and back
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Establish the first hub of combined expertise to address military and frontier medicine challenges
“At Purdue’s Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering, our expertise extends through operations research, AI and human factors, all of which CARE will amplify,” said Young-Jun Son, the James J. Solberg Head and Ransburg Professor of Industrial Engineering. “Launching CARE will amplify that expertise and strengthen world-class opportunities for our faculty and students in Indianapolis.”
“There is a dramatic need to bridge between Purdue’s strengths in AI, computing and engineering, and IU School of Medicine’s clinical expertise, domain expertise and therapies,” Wachs said. “The best form to accomplish this is through CARE.”
Introductory workshop
Purdue, Indiana CTSI and IU School of Medicine leaders held a Dec. 1 workshop called “Robotics & AI in Medicine” to introduce attendees to the key stakeholders who are establishing CARE.
“We connected experts from industry, government and academics and focused on outlining the innovations in AI, robotics and engineering to improve surgical performances,” Wachs said. “Some of the topics were embodied AI, field and frontier medicine, autonomous laboratories, and surgical simulations.”
“The workshop was a unique opportunity to get AI scholars, government officials, industry stakeholders and clinicians in one place to brainstorm about the coming challenges in surgery and medicine and how to best be prepared to tackled them as a team,” he said.
Shivani Sharma, director of the Biomechanics and Mechanobiology program in the National Institutes of Health’s Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation, attended the workshop virtually. She said the most exciting aspect is the convergence of the diverse disciplines involved.
“High-risk, high-reward investments in fundamental science are critical to unlocking transformative advances such as predictive models that detect diseases early, adaptive robotic platforms that optimize treatments in real time, and computational tools that accelerate drug discovery,” she said. “What’s most exciting is watching the convergence of AI, robotics and biomedical expertise to tackle complex health problems.”