Jump-started by a $22.5 million gift, UBC’s new AI and Health Network is deploying powerful artificial intelligence tools to drive health system innovation and improve patient care.
Time is everything in health care. Imagine a loved one with high-risk breast cancer being prioritized for treatment in days, not months. A doctor who is able to spend more time with patients and less on paperwork. A breakthrough treatment developed and approved in months, not years, to outpace fast-moving viruses and drug-resistant cancers.
In all these scenarios, time isn’t just valuable—it saves lives. And now, they’re poised to become a reality in healthcare settings across B.C. and Canada thanks to the artificial intelligence tools being developed and deployed by UBC’s new AI and Health Network.
Dr. Raymond Ng (left) and Dr. Anita Palepu (right), co-leaders of the UBC AI and Health Network.
Launched in June with the support of a $22.5 million gift from the Gordon B. Shrum Charitable Fund, the UBC AI and Health Network brings together researchers, clinicians and health system partners to apply Canadian-made AI solutions to the challenges facing patients and health systems.
Led by Dr. Ng and Dr. Anita Palepu, professor and head of UBC’s department of medicine, in partnership with other UBC research centres, including the ATM, the Network unifies UBC’s expertise across faculties and disciplines, while building on the university’s deep relationships with health system partners like the B.C. Ministry of Health, Provincial Health Services Authority and B.C. health authorities.
For the full article highlighting the UBC AI & Health Network, please click here.