The new age of AI is dawning in science and medicine at UT Southwestern

Newswise — DALLAS – May 29, 2024 – When cancer cells metastasize, breaking away from the primary tumor and spreading to blood, tissue, or lymph nodes, the disease is at its most lethal. In 2021, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center used artificial intelligence and deep machine learning to analyze 1.7 million raw images of patient-derived tumor samples, pinpointing a key distinction between skin cancer cells with high and low potential to metastasize – a discovery that could ultimately mean the difference between life or death for patients.

The algorithm that helped make this possible is just one example of how AI is propelling UT Southwestern research and discoveries forward in laboratories, clinics, and classrooms across campus.

With AI assisting, UTSW physician-scientists are zeroing in on the most effective medications for depression, predicting insulin resistance in Type 2 diabetes, and grading medical students on simulated encounters with patients. AI is also playing a vital role in advancing personalized radiotherapy and cancer treatments as well as putting complex and costly genetic research well within reach.

AI catapulted heavily into the public consciousness in 2023 with the introduction of ChatGPT, a form of generative AI that astounded the public with its ability to churn out Shakespearean-style sonnets and surrealistic visuals in a matter of seconds. While much of the media attention surrounding AI has focused on these parlor tricks and the potential risks that this technology might pose to jobs, privacy, and society as a whole, its ability to accelerate biomedical research cannot be overstated.

“Medicine is one of the fastest-growing areas of AI research, and its effects could be life-changing,” said Gaudenz Danuser, Ph.D., Professor of Cell Biology and inaugural Chair of the Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics, who led the study on metastatic skin cancer.

Progress report on 10 UT Southwestern AI research and training projects

AI is broadly defined as technology that autonomously reasons within machines and thus can come up with insights alternative to human thinking. But what individual researchers consider true AI can vary from algorithms trained to perform sophisticated pattern recognition to programs that mimic the neural wiring of human brains, said Steve Jiang, Ph.D., Professor, Vice Chair for Digital Health and AI, and Chief of the Division of Medical Physics and Engineering in the Department of Radiology Oncology at UTSW. He is also Director of the Medical Artificial Intelligence and Automation (MAIA) Lab.

These types of AI tools can make important contributions to health care, with many applications already in use or being rapidly developed at UTSW.

“I have no doubt,” said Dr. Jiang, “AI in health care will impact millions of lives.”

Two recent developments provide further proof that the era of AI is well underway at UT Southwestern.

In March 2024, UT Southwestern joined more than a dozen of the country’s top academic medical centers and Microsoft to form the Trustworthy & Responsible AI Network (TRAIN), a consortium designed to set quality and safety standards for the use of AI in health care and explore frameworks for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

And on May 30-31, UTSW will host the inaugural UT System AI Symposium in Health Care, bringing together scientists, clinicians, educators, and students from across the state to explore AI’s revolutionary potential.

“We are just beginning to see how much artificial intelligence can speed up the pace of scientific discovery,” said Eric Peterson, M.D., M.P.H., Vice Provost and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research at UT Southwestern, who is moderating the symposium. “At UT Southwestern, every day we’re finding new ways to harness AI to analyze vast amounts of data, enhance our biomedical research, and, ultimately, deliver the most advanced treatments to our patients.”  

Dr. Danuser is the Patrick E. Haggerty Distinguished Chair in Basic Biomedical Science. Dr. Jiang holds the Barbara Crittenden Professorship in Cancer Research. Dr. Peterson holds the Adelyn and Edmund M. Hoffman Distinguished Chair in Medical Science. Drs. Danuser and Jiang are members of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

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About UT Southwestern Medical Center  

UT Southwestern, one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty members have received six Nobel Prizes and include 25 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 21 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 3,100 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in more than 80 specialties to more than 120,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 5 million outpatient visits a year.