University of Pittsburgh Partners with Leidos to Enhance Medical AI

(TNS) — The University of Pittsburgh has announced a significant $10 million investment from Leidos Inc., aimed at enhancing medical care through artificial intelligence. This partnership will span five years and focuses on developing AI-powered tools specifically for diagnosing and treating conditions such as heart disease and cancer.

In a strategic move to innovate healthcare, the university revealed this expanded collaboration with the Reston-based Leidos. This initiative will also aid in creating revenue-generating AI products for both institutions.

The partnership, under Pitt’s newly established Computational Pathology and AI Center of Excellence, intends to elevate the standards of medical diagnostics at a time when research funding is increasingly restricted.

Dr. Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences at Pitt, emphasized the importance of digital pathology in the future of diagnostics, stating, ‘Digital pathology will become the gold standard in diagnosis in the future.’ He elaborated that it is challenging for pathologists to keep up with the growing body of knowledge necessary for accurate diagnosis.

Leidos, which operates the National Cancer Institute’s Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, has had a longstanding partnership with Pitt, collaborating on over 335 projects worth $37 million in past two decades. This emphasis on AI could help rural hospitals, where access to updated technology is often limited.

Additionally, Pitt’s history of collaboration with industry partners shows promise for similar innovations. For instance, their early investment in digital pathology with other companies laid the groundwork for further advancements.

While universities face a reduction in research funding, this partnership signifies a hopeful trend towards innovative financing and technological advancement in healthcare.