Overview

Research labs and clinical settings are continually generating data, data that have until now been inaccessible and for many complex reasons, difficult to use. If gathered intentionally and deciphered using AI and machine learning tools, this data could further science’s understanding of a range of diseases, advance translational research, and enhance clinical care. The field is moving quickly, making big strides possible. There are, however, specific challenges that need to be overcome urgently before the promise of AI and machine learning tools can be realized to fully and equitably benefit human health.

Science and health funders are at a crossroads where thoughtful investments at the intersection of AI and health can be a catalyst to improve the health and well-being of the global community. Milken Institute SPARC has been bringing together funders and stakeholders from across disciplines to engage and build strong, thoughtful partnerships to grow the field in ways that lead to transformative science and health discoveries.   

AI in Health
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Computational Biology Program

The research and health ecosystem has entered an era where vast amounts of biological and clinical data are continuously generated. Integrating, analyzing, and understanding these data are only possible with computational tools such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Incorporating such tools across the biomedical ecosystem has great promise to further the understanding of biological mechanisms, advance translational research, and enhance clinical care for better patient outcomes. The field of computational biology sits at the nexus of biology, big data, and computer science. The principles of AI intersect with the larger discipline of computational biology. Methods and approaches use mathematical modeling, simulations, analytics, statistical methods, and algorithm development to address biology-based questions. The application of computational tools can revolutionize how to study, prevent, and treat human disease. However, the unique nature of the biomedical ecosystem brings specific challenges that must be overcome before the promise of these tools to help people live longer and healthier lives can be fully realized.
Grants Program

Computational Biology at the Milken Institute

The Biswas Family Foundation partnered with the Milken Institute Science Philanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration (SPARC) in 2023 to conduct a comprehensive review of the computational biology field and identify areas of opportunity for philanthropy to advance the integration of computational tools in biomedical research and clinical care. 

Using the findings and insights from this analysis, which are published in Transformative Computational Biology, a Giving Smarter Guide, the Biswas Family Foundation developed the Transformative Computational Biology Grant Program, which is focused on accelerating the use of computational approaches in translational research and clinical settings to improve the well-being and health of the global community.

Funded Research

  • $14 million in funding awarded as of 2024
  • 5 scientific research grants supported
  • 15 multidisciplinary investigators supported
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Decorative

Funders for AI in Health

The technology surrounding AI for health is evolving quickly, and academic institutions, health systems, industry, and government bodies are making financial investments to enable scientists and clinicians to adopt these tools more widely. 

While many federal funders and some philanthropic organizations are currently focused on using these tools to understand disease mechanisms, there is a need to ensure tools are being used intentionally and strategically for the long-term benefit of human health. There are many opportunities on the horizon to expand open-data initiatives, facilitate how AI tools are integrated to advance health, and fund the expansion of AI tools across all stages of medicine. 

SPARC’s Funders for AI in Health is a cohort of philanthropic leaders who invest in biomedical research and wish to accelerate the path to progress using the transformative potential of AI.
 

Join Us

  • Build collaboration among funders looking to leverage AI tools to further medical research.
  • Coordinate and co-fund initiatives to amplify impact.
  • Communicate emerging gaps as the technology advances and provide opportunities for philanthropic funding to fill those gaps.
  • Share insights from the field and offer recommendations on funding to fill gaps. 

Funders for AI in Health is for high-impact philanthropists who already fund or are interested in funding biomedical research and recognize the potential for AI to achieve their vision of a healthy world.

  • Become part of a community of peers and subject matter experts.
  • Gain early access to MI SPARC insights and findings on AI in health.
  • Shape the future of how AI tools are used to create equity in medical research and clinical care.

AI for Neurodegenerative Disease

The World Health Organization estimates that by the year 2040, neurodegenerative disease (ND) will be second only to heart disease as a cause of death in developed countries, overtaking cancer-related deaths. There is no cure for NDs, which cause debilitating cognitive and physical decline.
Program

AI for Neurodegenerative Disease

Precision medicine is an approach to tailoring disease prevention and treatment to the characteristics of the patient. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools have enormous potential for developing precision medicine approaches for NDs; however, vast amounts of data are needed to do this. Applied intentionally, AI and machine learning tools can accelerate progress for ND research by (1) identifying mechanisms for disease prevention, (2) ensuring early and accurate diagnosis, and (3) developing and assigning precision treatment strategies for all patients with an ND. Milken Institute Science Philanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration (SPARC) has been working to bring strategic collaboration and funding to the field to ensure AI and machine learning tools receive the investment needed to build an infrastructure for their application of AI to drive accelerated progress in enabling precision medicine for NDs.
View Program
Graphic depicting fiber optics.
Giving Compass Article

Bringing Gender Diversity to AI

AI is at a crossroads where we can shape it with a diversity of perspectives which includes women and non-binary people, or it can fall short of its true potential and impact.
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Advances in the number of women and non-binary people in the sciences should mean greater gender diversity and offer hope that women will play an equal role in bringing the potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to bear. But the undesirable reality facing the world is telling a different story: there is potential for women to play an equal role, but not if we remain on the current trajectory.
Emily Baxi, Director, Science Philanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration, Milken Institute