COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – Winthrop University will receive $500,000 as part of a project to work with South Carolina researchers to modernize statewide health care diagnostics and treatment with the use of artificial intelligence.
The National Science Foundation announced this week a $20 million, five-year investment in the project called Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Devices for the Advancement of Personalized and Transformative Health Care in South Carolina or ADAPT-SC. Funding comes from the National Science Foundation’s Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NSF EPSCoR) Infrastructure Improvement Track-1 Award, which bolsters the overall goal to improve the research and development competitiveness of researchers and institutions within EPSCoR jurisdictions.
Clemson University will lead a statewide team of researchers from 11 institutions who will work closely with industry to advance AI-enabled medical devices and to train an AI-ready workforce.
Winthrop's Role in the Project
Winthrop’s $500,000 will capitalize on the university’s strengths in chemistry/biochemistry, biology and a newly developed major in data science with the goal of building a talent pipeline in South Carolina. Faculty in those areas will lead efforts to interweave and expand upon existing uses of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and data science at several levels of the curricula.
Winthrop President Edward Serna ’02 applauded collaboration among multiple institutions to help advance the health of South Carolina residents. “Winthrop is proud to be a part of this effort, as the university has invested more than a decade of biochemistry work to conduct research and train students,” he said. “Winthrop has a long-standing and successful track record with EPSCoR grants, and we look forward to great outcomes over the five-year grant cycle that will ultimately improve the lives of our state’s citizens.”
Takita Sumter, dean of Winthrop’s College of Arts and Sciences, said a team of professors has budgeted more than $100,000 in scholarships for EAGLE STEM Scholars who have particular interests in campus-wide AI/ML initiatives, designed summer research opportunities for up to 10 undergraduates, and will engage in hackathons and professional conferences. Robin Lammi, chair of the Department of Chemistry, Physics, Geology & the Environment, has organized the Winthrop effort, which involves Kristen Abernathy and Zach Abernathy, mathematics; Timea Fernandez, chemistry; Matt Stern, biology; and Paul Wiegand, computer science.
“The ADAPT program’s emphasis on personalized medicine using artificial intelligence will improve health care and the lives of South Carolinians,” Sumter said. “Winthrop’s engagement in this work illustrates our ongoing commitment to generating the next generation of professionals who are well trained in cutting-edge disciplines.”
Other institutions involved with the project are the University of South Carolina, the Medical University of South Carolina, Benedict College, Claflin University, South Carolina State University, College of Charleston, Francis Marion University, The Citadel and Tri-County Technical College. To advance translational research, ADAPT also will work with SC Bio, a statewide economic development organization and life-sciences industry association with nearly 200 members.
Project Goals
The project has three primary goals:
1) Build research capacity in AI-enabled biomedical devices in strategically identified areas to transform SC’s health care system, particularly in underserved areas;
2) Build a diverse talent pool in the field of biomedical AI through innovations in education and workforce development from K-12 through all levels of higher education; and
3) Foster interdisciplinary collaborations and academic–industrial partnerships by establishing research, education and technology-transfer integrated programs.
Examples of ADAPT research projects include incorporating AI into diagnostic devices to illuminate some of the hidden underlying causes of cardiovascular disease, accurately detect wounds in intensive care units or predict the likely outcome of peripheral artery disease. Digital twins of patients also will be used to test AI-enabled therapy and rehabilitation plans for lung-cancer patients. ADAPT also will evaluate AI trustworthiness and device security.
“Health care providers face numerous challenges diagnosing disease, or monitoring infections from traumatic injuries, or predicting likely outcomes of various treatment plans. It is an incredibly difficult job, but AI can remove some of those challenges,” said Bruce Gao, ADAPT scientific lead and South Carolina SmartState Endowed Chair of biofabrication engineering at Clemson. “In particular, AI can provide expedient information that will help physicians create a care plan specific to each patient’s condition and medical history.”
To advance the research, EPSCoR funds will support hiring five tenure-track faculty members and eight postdoctoral researchers throughout the state, as well as adding new computing and other infrastructure. The project involves more than 30 faculty members across the institutions and is expected to support training for more than 100 new Ph.D. students and 400 undergraduate students. ADAPT will conduct outreach to encourage K-12 students throughout the state to explore careers in science, technology, engineering and math, and provide training to K-12 STEM educators.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2242812. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Science Foundation.
For more information about Winthrop's participation, contact Lammi at lammir@winthrop.edu.
