University of Pittsburgh Launches New Initiative to Leverage Artificial Intelligence in Women’s Health Research

The University of Pittsburgh has recently launched the Vijayalakshmi Innovation Center in Women’s Health Analytics and Research (VIHAR), a new initiative aimed at addressing global disparities in women’s health by utilizing advanced artificial intelligence technology.

The research hub is funded by a gift from Vishnu Vardhan and Harsha Vardhini, siblings and co-founders of Vizzhy Inc., an AI healthcare systems company. The donors named the center in honor of their mother who suffered from pregnancy complications.

Housed within the School of Medicine’s department of biomedical informatics, VIHAR’s initial work will focus on using artificial intelligence and mobile apps to simulate and develop strategies for preventing and treating illnesses specific to women’s health. The center will also look to partner with other research organizations such as the Women’s Health and Education Center and the World Health Organization.

Vanathi Gopalakrishnan, associate professor of biomedical informatics, will serve as VIHAR’s inaugural director. She has conducted extensive research on the development of novel algorithms involving rule learning for the predictive and integrative modeling of biomedical data obtained from molecular profiling studies, radiologic imaging, and clinical textual reports.

“VIHAR will model the health trajectories of women and girls across every stage of life, capturing the richness of diverse ethnicities, environments, cultural and social contexts,” said Dr. Gopalakrishnan. “This will elevate precision medicine to new inclusive heights. The opportunities are limitless.”