Johns Hopkins https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org, recently received a $20 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) https://www.nia.nih.gov, to encourage the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) devices to improve the health of older adults.
According to Peter Abadir MD, Associate Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology at the JHU School of Medicine, “The percentage of older adults is expected to increase around the world over the next few decades. According to the U.S Census Bureau, there are currently more than 54 million people over the age of 65 in the U.S and that number is predicted to nearly double by 2060.”
There have been rapid advances in AI during the past decade along with an exponential increase in the amount of available biomedical data. Data has been gathered from personal devices such as fitness watches, sensors in healthcare settings, and from expanding sciences such as genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics which enables AI to be a valuable platform to use to improve the health of older Americans.
The funds spread over five years will launch the AI and Technology Collaboratory (AITC) with members from Johns Hopkins University SOM and Nursing, the Whiting School of Engineering, and the Carey Business School. Stakeholders, older Americans, caregivers, technology developers and innovators, and industry partners will take part.
For example, the AITC will be structured so that data from sensors that monitor gait can be used to develop devices that predict and prevent falls, and algorithms monitoring facial expressions and speech will be able to spot signs of early dementia to help people receive early intervention or treatments.
The Center’s eight cores are to be led by geriatricians, AI engineers, psychologists, data scientists, and business professionals. In addition, a critical partnership will be ongoing with business partners outside of Johns Hopkins along with a key clinical collaboration with the Iowa Office of Rural Health’s Veterans Rural Health Resource Center leadership.
The goal will be to bring AITC ideas to fruition by adapting existing technologies or developing new technologies, and then perfecting prototypes by testing them in clinical trials to create marketable devices with industry collaborators.