Three IdeaShare submissions funded at AI Day

From idea to project proposal to seed funding in four hours — that’s what happened when Vanderbilt innovators assembled recently to discuss aspirational concepts that could harness clinical data to transform care using artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics (PA).

Called AI Day, the May event topped off an innovation challenge that began with an invitation for ideas from anyone at Vanderbilt University or Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 

The 140 ideas submitted through the IdeaShare online tool were first reviewed for impact and relevancy by a group of subject matter experts.

“The number of artificial intelligence-driven projects with potentially high-impact on health care contributed by the community was impressive and an excellent illustration of the value derived by reaching beyond traditional clinical subject matter experts,” said Bradley Malin, PhD, one of the event sponsors. 

Users of IdeaShare then ranked the ideas in a head-to-head process called Pairwise. Four ideas advanced to the AI Day competition:

·          Using AI to identify teens at risk of suicide and connect them to clinical interventions at VUMC and resources like the crisis text line (submitted by Colin Walsh)

·         Using personal patient biometric information and AI to predict complications and readmission after heart surgery (submitted by Ashish Shah) 

·         Auto-scribing electronic health records (EHRs) with natural language generation and auto-summarization (submitted by Taylor Johnson)

·         Using computers to measure fatty liver disease on CT scans to support healthy lifestyles  (submitted by Jeff Carr)

During the competition, teams assembled around each idea, designed a proposal and pitched their project implementation plan to a panel of judges, who selected three award winning proposals, which each received $30,000 from the Evelyn Selby Stead Fund for Innovation for fiscal year 2019.

The impact of the event went well beyond the proposals awarded. Jeff Neul, PhD, director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, attended the event and saw great rewards from his participation.

"Colin Walsh's idea of using AI to predict potential suicide in teens triggered an exciting idea of how we could rapidly implement a similar approach in our center, which will be part of my PowerPitch at StrategyShare 18 on June 26," he said. "All of this integrates well with a vision of precision care for people with development disabilities."

 "The power of that connection and the turn around from idea to proposal is impressive. This is why I came to work at Vanderbilt University Medical Center," Neul added. 

Ideas that were not selected for participation in AI Day were shared with AI experts within VUMC and VU who may be interested in pursuing them.

For more information on IdeaShare, visit vumc.org/strategy/ideashare/.