University of Pittsburgh unveils new innovation center to improve women's health
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The University of Pittsburgh is now home to a landmark global innovation center that uses data and artificial intelligence, in hopes of improving women's health worldwide.
Dr. Vishnu Vardhan and his sister Harsha Vardhini have watched their mother struggle with health problems like diabetes. It encouraged them to create their Texas start-up, Vizzhy, where they apply AI to healthcare.
"I want many more mothers like my mother to, you know, not undergo that," Dr. Vardhan said.
Now, they're bringing those systems to Pitt by investing $10 million in a new center that was also matched by the School of Medicine.
Dr. Anantha Shekhar is the dean of the School of Medicine and senior vice chancellor for the health sciences.
"This is a global innovation center to reduce health disparities in women and improve the health care for women across the globe," Dr. Shekhar said.
They're calling it the Vijayalakshmi Innovation Center in Women's Health Analytics and Research, or Vihar, after their mom. It's the first in the world to bridge the fields together. The center will be led by Vanathi Gopalakrishnan and the foundations of her biomedical informatics lab, where she's worked to answer various questions.
"How can humans and machines work together to enhance early detection of disease in a much better way?" Gopalakrishnan said.
She said their work will model the health trajectories of women and girls across every stage of life, and that the center has the potential to create what they call the world's first female digital health twin.
"This initiative will allow researchers worldwide to simulate, model, and optimize strategies for preventing and treating illnesses uniquely affecting girls and women," Gopalakrishnan said.
They'll first recruit staff members and buy hardware and software for the center that enhances the gathering and analyzing of vast amounts of health data.
Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel said they look forward to the chance to transform women's healthcare.
"That's really going to make an incredible difference for countless women and girls to live healthier and happier lives and close gaps that should never exist in the first place," Gabel said.
