UB launches Center for Translational AI and Digital Health

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo has launched a new Center for Translational AI and Digital Health to advance emerging medical technologies that improve the speed, precision and accessibility in which people receive health care.

The center, which taps UB’s strengths in artificial intelligence, biomedical engineering and clinical care, will serve as a hub that unites researchers, physicians and industry partners from Western New York and beyond.

“AI is enabling quicker diagnosis and more personalized treatments, broader access to care and accelerating the pace of medical discovery,” says Venu Govindaraju, PhD, senior vice president for research, innovation and economic development at UB. “With more than 50 years of leadership in AI, UB is driving a new era in health care diagnostics, delivery and research.”

The center will focus on developing point-of-care health technologies, including medical devices and diagnostic tests that shift care from laboratories to the patient’s side. Common examples include rapid COVID-19 tests, continuous glucose monitors and electronic health record systems.

The development of these tools has been driven by advancements in AI and computing, the miniaturization of devices and sensors, strains on the health care system and other factors.

Wenyao Xu, PhD, the Carl V. Granger Endowed Chair Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, will serve as the center’s director.

“Point-of-care health technologies and digital solutions are leading to vast and wide-reaching improvements in health care,” says Xu. “These advanced tools allow for the faster diagnosing and treatment of patients, which helps reduce costs and the need for follow-up visits. They also expand access to patients who live in remote or underserved communities.”

The center will be located within UB’s Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (CBLS) at 701 Ellicott St. in Buffalo – the university’s primary industry engagement and commercialization hub for the life sciences. CBLS is a New York State Center of Excellence funded through Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation, known as NYSTAR, and supports tech-based economic development by facilitating partnerships between university research and life sciences companies.

The center will be hosted within Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships (BEP), which is part of UB’s Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Development (RIED). It will draw on resources from BEP including technology transfer, startup incubators, workforce development, and industry relations, leveraging longstanding partnerships with the region’s life sciences companies.

“Because of the translational nature of this work, BEP’s role is central to the center’s success,” says Per Stromhaug, PhD, MBA, senior associate vice president for economic development at UB. “The center brings together UB research, student talent, clinical partners, industry relationships and commercialization support in one place. BEP already helps support translational research, move intellectual property out of the lab, and grow health care startups. This gives the new center a strong foundation from the start.”

For the center, that infrastructure is especially important because point-of-care technologies often require coordination across research, clinical practice, student training and industry.

“Faculty developing these tools need a full pipeline of support – pilot funding, regulatory guidance, clinical validation and a path to market,” says Smitha James, senior associate director of the CBLS and life sciences programs at BEP. “Our team works alongside researchers from the earliest stages, helping them move promising discoveries toward products that reach patients. Housing the Center for Translational AI and Digital Health within CBLS also means those resources are right next door.”

The new center is buoyed by three highly competitive R01 grants from the National Institutes of Health – totaling more than $8.3 million – that Xu and collaborators have been awarded.

The grants include:

• A 4-year, $2.5 million R01 grant by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to further develop a new hearing test that measures how a patient’s pupils involuntarily change size in response to sound. The aim is for older adults to use the low-cost, AI-powered tool at home to determine if they need additional medical care.
• A 5-year, $3.1 million R01 award from the National Institute of Drug Abuse that includes collaborators from Columbia University. The goal of this clinical trial is to develop a smartphone- and wearable-based intervention for smoking cessation among HIV survivors.
• A 4-year, $2.7 million R01 grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering to develop medical imaging technology that uses hyperspectral imaging and AI to monitor wound healing and other skin conditions. The system could reduce the time-consuming process of opening and closing dressings, as well as decrease the odds of secondary infections that result from wounds being exposed.

In recent years, UB has received federal awards of $20 million to establish National AI Institute for Exceptional Education at UB, which is developing AI tools to address gaps in speech and pathology services for young children, and $10 million to create the Center for Early Literacy and Responsible AI to support K-12 students in independent reading.

Additionally, UB is home to one of the nation’s most powerful academic supercomputing centers, Empire AI. The more than $500 million initiative fuels the Empire AI research consortium, which consists of 10 public and private New York State institutions, including UB.

Kemper Lewis, PhD, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, says the center “will be used to demonstrate the transformative role AI can play in driving meaningful, lasting change in health care and society.”

“The collaborations forged through the Center for Translational AI and Digital Health will help researchers and clinicians reimagine how care is delivered,” says Lewis. "By advancing technologies that make diagnostics more accessible, their work has the potential to improve the lives of countless patients and communities.”