UPMC, University of Pittsburgh and CMU collaborate to optimize big data

The Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance, a collaborative effort between Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, will focus on optimizing “big data” to transform health care, the institutions announced in a press release.

The initiative will be aimed at harnessing and leveraging the massive amounts of data generated by modern health care, including electronic health record information, diagnostic imaging data, prescription information, general profiles insurance records, and data from wearable devices.

The use of smart data could be used in a variety of ways to maximize the efficiency of health care, the institutions said in the press release. For example, such data could be used to aid in the rapid detection of possible new outbreaks, and could alert hospital staff and authorities to take proper action. The alliance will also create new data-heavy health care innovations, leading to spin-off companies and increased economic development in the region.

Funded by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the alliance will be implemented by centers led by the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and Carnegie Mellon, with participation from all three institutions. These centers will work to transform the wealth of medical data into new technologies, products and services aimed at disease prevention, diagnosis and patient engagement in care.

“Through this partnership, our brilliant scientists at Pitt and CMU will have unprecedented resources for turning their innovative ideas into products and services that can truly better the lives of patients and society,” Patrick Gallagher, PhD, chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, said in the release. “The knowledge created here will result in the spin-off of many new companies and thousands of new jobs over the next decade.”

The alliance will initially include two research and development centers: the Center for Machine Learning and Health (CMLH), led by founding director Eric Xing, PhD, a professor at CMU’s Department of Machine Learning, and the Center for Commercial Applications of Healthcare Data (CCA), led by Michael Becich, MD, PhD, chair of Pitt’s Department of Biomedical Informatics.

The CMLH will prioritize issues involving the overlap between health care and machine learning. It will use data from electronic health records, genomic sequencing, insurance records and wearable sensors to directly improve health care. Its areas of focus will be big health care data analytics, personalized medicine and disease modeling, privacy issues, security and compliance in the context of big data, data-driven patient and provider education, and a new overall framework for big data in health care.

The CCA will be aimed at researching and creating new technologies for possible use in commercial ‘theranostics’ (combined diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities) and imaging systems for patients and doctors. Areas of focus for the CCA will include personalized medicine for diseases like cancer and lung disorders; genomics and imaging data; and approaches to capturing data and health care analytics. New technologies and actionable information will be key goals of the CCA.

The new research centers at CMU and Pitt will be funded over the next six years by UPMC and will also utilize several hundred million dollars in existing research grants at all three institutions. According to UPMC CEO Jeffrey Romoff, the centers will result in an “innovation ecosystem” for health data in the area.

“We are unlocking the potential of data to tackle some of our nation’s biggest challenges: raising the quality and reducing the cost of health care. Not only will this effort benefit patients, but it also will accelerate Pittsburgh’s revitalization,” Romoff said in the press release.