Data science and artificial intelligence, including robotics, is playing an ever-increasing role in medicine and health. Find out how we’re contributing to this emerging field. Data science and artificial intelligence (AI), including robotics, are opening up new possibilities in medicine and healthcare, from using AI for disease detection to robotics in social care. Most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic has given us a glimpse of the role that massive data initiatives and AI can and will play in pandemic research. The potential benefits to deploying these technologies are vast. To fully exploit this potential, we’ll need high-quality research and education programmes to help healthcare systems and policies better understand and prepare for transformation. What we're doing At Edinburgh, our research at the intersection of big data, artificial intelligence, and health has an opportunity to make significant positive impact on society by improving patient care through better diagnosis and treatment. Here is some of the work we’re doing to stay close to the forefront of this emerging field. A health data research hub for respiratory health The BREATHE project, led by Professor Aziz Sheikh at the Usher Institute, is enabling the use of health data in cutting-edge research and innovation, to address respiratory conditions such as asthma, COPD and Covid-19. BREATHE is working with its partners in applying artificial intelligence methods, such as natural language processing, to define the clinical characteristics and predictive factors for the progression of patients hospitalised with Covid-19. Further research is using AI to scan large datasets for patterns that will inform understanding of how effective Covid-19 vaccines are. The research uses the latest GP, hospital information and Covid-19 testing data from electronic medical records data in the UK. The researchers are developing techniques to link the medical information data from GP records, along with data from hospitals about their Covid-19 patients. Find out more about BREATHE Training the next generation of biomedical AI experts AI technologies will be a key driver in furthering our understanding and discovering new interventions in biomedicine. Our Centre for Doctoral Training in Biomedical Artificial Intelligence, with major funding from UK Research and Investment (UKRI), will train a new generation of interdisciplinary scientists who will shape the development of AI within biomedical research over coming decades. These students will gain the skills, knowledge and acumen to realise biomedical breakthroughs using AI while anticipating and addressing the social issues connected with their research. Find out more about the Centre for Doctoral Training in Biomedical Artificial Intelligence Innovating later-life care We anticipate a future where high‐quality data‐driven, personalised and affordable care will support the independence, dignity and quality‐of‐life of people living in their own homes and in supported care environments Our Advanced Care Research Centre (ACRC) aims to transform care in later life using personalised care enabled by data science, artificial intelligence, assistive technologies and robotics embedded in systems of health and social care which are highly responsive to the wishes, priorities and needs of individual people in later life. The Centre will have access to linked routine health care data in Scotland and in other UK countries through our leadership role in Health Data Research UK. The £4.3M investment in DataLoch, a repository of all routine health and social care data for Edinburgh and South East Scotland, will enhance access, linkage, data security and the core analytical platform for a regional population of 1.3 million people. The Centre will also apply AI methods, such as natural language processing and machine learning, to analyse qualitative health and social care data recorded in free-text clinical records. Find out more about the Advanced Care Research Centre Partner with us We’re already doing exciting work in this field but we’d like to do more. If you’d like to have a conversation about our vision and how you can support that, please get in touch. Chloe Kippen Director of Philanthropy and Health Contact details Email: chloe.kippen@ed.ac.uk This article was published on 2024-10-29
