– Microsoft launches 5-year, $40M AI for Health initiative to advance the health of people and communities around the world through artificial intelligence (AI).
– AI for Health will focus on three core areas: quest for discovery, global health insights, and health equity.
Microsoft Corporation, today announced the launch of AI for Health, a new $40M, five-year program to empower researchers and organizations with AI to improve the health of people and communities around the world. . AI for Health is the fifth Microsoft AI for Good program, a $165 million initiative to empower researchers, nonprofits and organizations with advanced technologies to help unlock solutions to the biggest challenges facing society today.\
AI for Health Background
AI for Health is a philanthropic initiative that complements our broader work in Microsoft Healthcare. The AI for Health program will operate via collaborations that leverage our best AI tools and technical expertise from Microsoft to further quests for medical discovery, uncover global health insights and increase health equity across underserved populations.
AI for Health Initiative Key Areas
The AI for Health initiative will focus on three key areas:
1. Quest for discovery. Accelerating medical research to advance prevention, diagnoses, and treatment of diseases
2. Global health insights. Increasing our shared understanding of mortality and longevity to protect against global health crises
3. Health equity. Reducing health inequity and improving access to care for underserved populations
The AI for Health program will operate via collaborations that leverage our best AI tools and technical expertise from Microsoft to further quests for medical discovery, uncover global health insights and increase health equity across underserved populations. A handful of our current projects include:
Key Drivers for the AI for Health Initiative
The health of people and communities around the world has been improving over time. However, progress has not been equal across the globe, and there is a great need to focus on societal issues such as reducing health inequity and improving access to care for underserved populations. Even in countries such as the U.S. that have made great progress in reducing child mortality, the probability of a child surviving to their fifth birthday depends heavily on the zip code where that child was born and varies dramatically by demographics. While researchers work to unlock life-saving discoveries and develop new approaches to pressing health issues, advancements in technology can help accelerate and scale new solutions. This is where the AI for Health program can help.
Current Projects Underway
A handful of our current projects underway include:
– Strengthening our medical understanding of the causes and diagnosis of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), in collaboration with Seattle Children’s Research Institute
– Working with the Novartis Foundation to accelerate efforts to eliminate leprosy by focusing on interventions that aim to interrupt transmission
– Deploying for use in primary care end-to-end diabetic retinopathy diagnostic software, developed in partnership with Intelligent Retinal Imaging Systems (IRIS), that can help curb preventable blindness
– Exploring new ways to unlock cross-organizational access to information that can lead to breakthroughs in research by working with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the Cascadia Data Discovery Initiative to accelerate new avenues to prevent and treat cancer
In addition, Microsoft is expanding its existing partnerships with nonprofits – BRAC, PATH, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – to propel additional advancements in the important fields of maternal mortality, tuberculosis treatment, and pediatric cancer.
