BU Announces Digital Health Initiative

Boston University is pleased to announce the BU Digital Health Initiative, a new collaboration between the Institute for Health System Innovation & Policy and the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering. The Initiative was announced at BU Data Science (BUDS) Day 2017 on January 27th.

The BU Digital Health Initiative seeks to advance progress in health and healthcare by supporting research projects and convening a university-wide, multi-disciplinary community of researchers, practitioners, and students. The Institute for Health System Innovation & Policy and the Hariri Institute for Computing are uniquely suited to advance these goals together. As university-wide institutes at a major research university, affiliated with an academic medical center that is the largest safety net hospital and busiest trauma and emergency services center in New England, they can create inimitable opportunities for innovative, cross-disciplinary work.

The Initiative will be guided by Jonathan Woodson and Mark Allan, Director and Executive Director, respectively, of the Institute for Health System Innovation & Policy, as well as by Azer Bestavros and Andrei Lapets, Founding Director and Director of Research Development, respectively, of the Hariri Institute for Computing.

Digital health leverages technologies, such as embedded systems, mobile computing, social networking, and cloud platforms, and methodologies from computing and data sciences to tackle a range of applications related to healthcare systems, from medical informatics to healthcare delivery and administration. Innovations at this nexus of technologies, methodologies, and applications hold great promise for improving the quality, efficiency, and accessibility of healthcare, with significant benefits to the economy and society.

As Woodson notes, “digital health is a natural consequence of the digital revolution affecting many segments of our lives and business practices; it will be disruptive and accelerate change and innovation in health and healthcare. The IHSIP is very pleased to launch this interdisciplinary initiative with Professor Bestavros and his team at the Hariri Institute for Computing.”

Since its inception five years ago, the Hariri Institute supported a number of projects related to digital health through seed funding and software development. Yet, “the launch of this initiative is a milestone as it marks the first time that the Hariri Institute has joined forces with another university-wide institute in support of a truly interdisciplinary endeavor,” said Bestavros, who credits IHSIP under Dr. Woodson’s leadership “for reaching out and for recognizing the importance of bringing our two communities together.”

By bringing these communities together and funding expert health sector researchers, practitioners, and skillful computational and data-driven scientists, the Initiative aims to catalyze innovative solutions for the complex problems facing the health sector, both in the U.S. and globally.

Components of the Initiative include funding opportunities for research, support for training and educational activities, and more. Please stay tuned for information on specific research challenges and opportunities, which will be announced in the coming weeks, and visit the Initiative’s new website, bu.edu/datascience.

The Institute for Health System Innovation & Policy

The Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy develops solutions to address the critical challenges of health and healthcare, both in the United States and globally.  Its goal is to transform healthcare through integration and innovation across science and technology, system design and management, leadership, and policy development. The Institute is committed to research and education to support the development and deployment of capabilities to produce effective and efficient healthcare delivery, optimal health outcomes, and better population health. It uses analytic tools and evidence-based study to improve the value creation across all elements of the healthcare system.

The Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering

An incubator in a university setting, the Hariri Institute for Computing initiates, catalyzes, and propels transformative computational and data-driven research and training initiatives across the landscape of academic disciplines for a better society. Sitting at the nexus of data science, cloud computing, and cyber security, the Institute is committed to supporting a growing community of researchers who think computationally and strive to apply a burgeoning body of analytical techniques in solving research problems across disciplines.

For more information about the new BU Digital Health Initiative, please contact Dana Molt, Project Manager for IHSIP, at dmolt@bu.edu.