Upstate Medical University is one of eight SUNY schools to receive funding to start work on creating centers or other campus elements related to artificial intelligence (AI) and how it will impact society.

Upstate will receive $200,000 to help create the AI for Health Equity, Analytics, and Diagnostics (AHEAD) Center for advancing AI research and its application in healthcare. Gov. Hochul announced the funding last week.

Other SUNY schools receiving funding for AI efforts include University at Albany, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo, SUNY Downstate, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY Polytechnic Institute and Stony Brook University.

The AHEAD center will leverage AI to advance precision medicine, predictive analytics, diagnostic tools, and biomedical research while addressing potential disparities in healthcare delivery. The AHEAD Center’s mission aligns with Upstate’s broader commitment to improving the health of the communities it serves through education, research, and patient care.

The objectives of the AHEAD Center are designed to integrate AI into healthcare in a responsible, equitable, and innovative manner. These objectives include:

—developing clinically useful AI algorithms to enhance patient care and improve the experience of healthcare providers, students, and staff;

—driving innovation in AI by designing novel, transdisciplinary AI architectures to address pressing clinical and research challenges;

—educating the next generation by providing AI training to medical, nursing, and graduate students, as well as residents and interns;

—ensuring equity and ethical AI by focusing on making AI applications equitable, inclusive, and accessible in healthcare;

—community engagement by educating the public about the role of AI in advancing medical research, education, and clinical care;

—optimizing AI for healthcare technologies to include enhancing technologies that support clinical care, research, and education.

The AHEAD Center will be interdisciplinary, drawing on expertise from Upstate’s colleges of medicine, nursing, health professions, and graduate studies. Faculty from Syracuse University’s departments of humanities, ethics, and computer science will also contribute to the center’s work. This broad collaboration is designed to harness expertise across healthcare, engineering, social sciences and computing.

In addition to advancing AI research, the AHEAD Center will develop a curriculum to equip students and faculty with the knowledge and skills to apply AI in healthcare. The curriculum will emphasize real-world applications, ethical AI, responsible AI use.

The AHEAD Center will play a key role in advancing Upstate’s mission to foster innovation in education, research, and patient care. By leveraging AI to improve healthcare outcomes and address disparities, the center will help prepare students to be the next generation of leaders in AI and healthcare.