Courtesy of Emory University
As the U.S. public health system weighs how to integrate artificial intelligence, an Emory University lab is patenting new ideas for precision medicine that its leader says could bring AI research into practical use — quickly and with nuance.
Professor Anant Madabhushi’s work covers AI options for detecting and treating a dizzying range of diseases, from cancer to HIV to cardiovascular disease, in countries from China to Tanzania to Brazil.
The bioengineer’s upbringing in Mumbai, India, and work with researchers around the world have driven his focus on finding uses for AI to save money, time, and resources in public health and health care.
Madabhushi holds more than 225 issued or pending patents and has headed the Empathetic AI for Health Institute at Emory since 2023. He’s also co-founded several companies focused on AI in health.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Dec. 4 an intention to incorporate AI into public health.
Artificial intelligence could have major public health benefits across the world, including the rural United States, Madabhushi said. But he’s concerned the United States is falling behind in the large-cohort studies needed to fuel AI’s promise.
“The necessity of these technologies, frugal and opportunistic, have implications not just in the Global South, but also in rural America,” he said. “We really owe it to Americans to be able to do whatever we can, particularly in this time of health care costs and some of the challenges with access.”
Healthbeat shares seven takeaways from a recent conversation with Madabhushi.
- Artificial intelligence will not replace clinicians.
“In reality, the real value lies in augmenting clinical decision-making, reducing variability, and expanding access — especially where clinical expertise is limited,” Madabhushi said. That includes parts of the world with limited resources, whether that’s his native India or rural Georgia.
- Artificial intelligence has the power to transform lives and health systems, but the breakthroughs aren’t “plug-and-play.”
“In truth, they require careful validation, bias mitigation, regulatory oversight, and thoughtful deployment to ensure they actually help patients rather than introduce new inequities,” Madabhushi said.
He pointed to the example of a cancer center in India that sees about 1 million patients a year.
“Whatever technology you bring into play not only has to be able to deliver accurate insights, it also has to be done in a way that doesn’t add time to the system,” Madabhushi said. “You can’t add more complexity. You can’t add more seconds to the diagnosis, to the clinical workflow.”
With 1 million patients a year, just one second added to the workflow means “suddenly you’re talking about some serious amount of time.”
- Eyes are diagnostic windows to health.
Using AI, eyes