On Friday, September 18, 71 participants gathered for the annual Michigan Genomics Initiative Symposium, creating opportunities to share research, exchange ideas, and build connections across the University of Michigan’s genomics and health communities. Attendees represented approximately 18 schools and departments across the university.

On Friday, September 11, more than 230 participants gathered at the North Campus Research Complex for the fifth annual AI & Health Symposium, creating opportunities for networking, exchanging ideas, and building collaborations across U-M’s AI and health communities.

Teams led by Dr. Lisa Bastarache, Research Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Vanderbilt, and Dr. Matthew Zawistowski, Clinical Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the U-M School of Public Health, have landed the NIH Replication Prize for their work developing the Phenotype-Genotype Reference Map (PGRM)—an open-science tool for evaluating data quality and integrity across large-scale electronic health record (EHR)-linked biobanks.

The grant builds on the team’s earlier work studying how AI-generated recommendations can affect clinicians’ diagnostic accuracy in the setting of acute respiratory failure (ARF). The team will now develop, deploy and evaluate their own AI model to support the timely and accurate diagnosis of the underlying cause(s) of ARF and acute shortness of breath.

This edition of the AI&DHI Innovation Spotlight is focused on work led by Dr. Dina Griauzde, Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of Research and Quality for Michigan Medicine’s Weight Navigation Program (WNP).

With the support of AI&DHI, and joined by multidisciplinary experts from across the University of Michigan and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, the team developed a program aimed at streamlining access to personalized, evidence-based weight management care for patients with obesity.

This edition of the AI&DHI Innovation Spotlight features work led by Dr. Kristian Stensland, Assistant Professor of Urology and Learning Health Sciences at Michigan Medicine.

Dr. Stensland and his team are using AI&DHI’s MiCohort Screener tool to identify patients who may be eligible for prostate cancer clinical trials at U-M. The team is also applying methods to test how well this system works in practice.

The tool will help research teams spend less time analyzing patient charts and more time advancing recruitment for their studies and clinical trials.

Researchers from AI & Digital Health Innovation (AI&DHI) at the University of Michigan have been awarded the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Replication Prize for a collaborative project with Vanderbilt University designed to improve confidence in findings from biobank-based research.

AI&DHI co-director Dr. Jenna Wiens, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science spoke with MIT TechReview about the importance of evaluating AI in healthcare and not just blindly adopting.

The two teams, each comprised of a clinical faculty member from Michigan Medicine and a U-M faculty expert who specializes in artificial intelligence, will receive one year of funding support for their proposed research projects, helping them push their work to a critical next stage and equipping them to apply for external grants at the conclusion of the funding period.

This Winter, we kicked off a new event series, the AI&DHI Research Data Talks, to make connecting and utilizing our available datasets, tools and resources easier than ever!

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes are located in the major histocompatibility complex region of the human genome, play a crucial role in the regulation of immune function, and serve as key genetic markers that influence individual responses to medications and susceptibility to various diseases.

AI&DHI and e-HAIL have partnered with the Rogel Cancer Center and the Michigan Medicine Department of Surgery to introduce a new research funding program aimed at advancing patient care through cross-disciplinary collaboration.

This edition of the AI&DHI Innovation Spotlight is focused on work led by Dr. Xu Shi, Associate Professor of Biostatistics in the School of Public Health. Dr. Shi and her team are developing statistical methods and computational tools to address challenges in medical coding heterogeneity across large-scale electronic health record (EHR)–linked biobanks.

Michigan Research interviewed Dr. Michael Sjoding, Associate Director of Research Implementation at AI&DHI, and Dr. Jenna Wiens, Co-Director of AI&DHI, for a piece discussing the potential of artificial intelligence to transform healthcare.

Reflecting on our first year under our new banner and the achievements, insights and growth that shaped it.

As Dr. Lavieri jumps into this new role, we pitched her several questions to better understand her vision for AI&DHI, her hopes for how the College of Engineering can play a lead role in the field of AI and digital health, and more.

AI & Digital Health Innovation and e-HAIL have merged operations to form a one stop shop for health AI researchers across the university seeking research support.

Building on the Michigan Genomic Initiative’s successful 100k+ patient GWAS dataset, AI&DHI, in collaboration with the Michigan Medicine Department of Pathology, has initiated a Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) pilot on 10k individuals.

Hosted by AI & Digital Health Innovation, this event provided the opportunity for U-M researchers, faculty members and students who share an interest in genomics and genetics to convene and learn from each other.

Dr. Pasternak’s research focuses on the discovery and validation of pharmacogenetic associations and evaluating the clinical impact of translating pharmacogenetics into patient care. Her current work is focused on increasing the understanding of tacrolimus pharmacogenetic interactions in multiple transplant populations and among routes of administration.

The goal of this project is to provide modern genetic data to users of MGI to maximize scientific impact. However, there are many possible ways this goal can be achieved. Here, we ask for proposals from the UM scientific community on how to select the subset of MGI participants to be sequenced.

Around 250 members of the U-M research community gathered for the 4^th annual AI & Health Symposium. Hosted jointly by e-HAIL and AI&DHI, with support from IHPI, the symposium drew investigators from across departments and disciplines eager to forge new collaborations and learn more about the work taking place where AI and healthcare meet at U-M.

A team led by AI&DHI researcher Dr. Zhenke Wu is building reliable and effective digital intervention systems aimed at supporting the mental health of medical interns—a group particularly vulnerable to stress and burnout.

A pioneer who revolutionized how pharmacy care is practiced, Dr. Choe worked on numerous transformative initiatives with AI&DHI, and her passion served as the driving force behind establishing the groundwork for how we operate today.

A memorial service for Dr. Choe will be held August 9 (Sat.) at 11am in the Michigan Union Rogel Ballroom.

Users of DataDirect may notice some changes in the self-serve tool's user interface. The overarching goal of these changes is to make access to the deideintified EHR data the default option, enhancing security and safety around access and use of Michigan Medicine patients’ EHR data.

AI guidance for clinicians aimed at reducing the spread of Clostridioides difficile—a bacteria that can be deadly for sick patients—was deployed for the first time in a hospital setting, according to a University of Michigan-led study published in JAMA Network Open.

The AI&DHI data refresh in AI&DHI (deidentified) DataDirect and Deidentified Research Data Warehouse (RDW) is now complete, with both billing data and clinical data updated through 3/31/2025.

In 2020, Dr. Jessica Golbus and her team set out to examine whether a mobile health (mHealth) intervention using personalized text message guidance could improve the physical activity levels of low and moderate risk patients who were enrolled in center-based cardiac rehabilitation.

When Nate Wood arrived at the University of Michigan as a freshman, he already knew he wanted to become a doctor. But growing up in Muskegon, Michigan, in a family without physicians, he didn’t yet have a clear path—or mentors to help guide him. That changed when he joined the Michigan Genomics Initiative (MGI) as an undergraduate research assistant.