Artificial Intelligence to cure haematological diseases

The project involving 23 research centres in 7 European countries, coordinated by Humanitas, has been selected by the European Commission to be presented at Expo Dubai as part of the Expo AI Week.

Humanitas is the scientific leader of the GenoMed4All project (Genomics and Personalized Medicine for All through Artificial Intelligence in Haematological Diseases) one of three projects selected by the European Commission to represent European excellence in the field of Artificial Intelligence applied to the Healthcare sector at Expo Dubai. The research project involving 7 countries (Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Cyprus) will be presented during the Expo AI Week.

GenoMed4All, a project launched in 2021, is funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Research & Innovation programme. Its aim is to put innovative artificial intelligence technologies at the service of doctors and clinical practice in the field of haematological diseases. These diseases include disorders linked to abnormalities of blood cells, the lymphoid system and coagulation factors; examples include various forms of leukaemia, as well as genetic blood diseases such as sickle cell anaemia. Haematological diseases are considered rare, so the clinical need for new knowledge and new tools is indeed strong. The GenoMed4All project addresses this need by promoting better use of the huge amount of genomic and clinical data safely processed by hospitals. By creating a platform which allows this data to be shared and analysed in an easier way, it will be possible not only to identify new strategies for even more precise diagnosis and prognostic definition, but above all to identify therapies tailored to the needs of each patient.

“Artificial intelligence is the new frontier of personalized medicine – explains Prof. Matteo Della Porta    scientific coordinator of GenoMed4All, head of the Leukemia and Myelodysplasia section of Humanitas and professor at Humanitas University -. Humanitas is the first hospital in Italy to have an integrated Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence. This is proving successful because it allows engineers, doctors and data scientists to work together every day, side by side, promoting a strong cultural and scientific exchange of knowledge. The fact that GenoMed4All has been selected by the European Commission among the three projects to be presented at Expo Dubai is a source of pride for us and, above all, confirms that we are working in the right direction: in other words Artificial Intelligence”.

Humanitas AI Center

Directed by Victor Savevski    Chief Innovation Officer of Humanitas, the Humanitas AI Center is the first Artificial Intelligence Research Centre integrated into a hospital in Italy

Humanitas AI Center’s mission is to create a space for sharing knowledge and skills between engineers, doctors and data scientists to reach even higher standards of care. This is done by building intelligent algorithms capable of processing a huge amount of clinical information, in order to find associations between them and define prediction models to use in scientific research and innovative areas such as predictive medicine, personalized treatments and diagnostic imaging.

In addition to the GenoMed4All project, Humanitas is committed to applying Artificial Intelligence to other areas such as the prevention of colon cancer. The University is collaborating in the development of AI systems that allow a more accurate and rapid diagnosis, helping the endoscopist to identify intestinal polyps which risk degenerating even into a small tumour.

AI has also been applied in the context of SARS-CoV2 infections, through the development of an algorithm that can quickly identify patients requiring hospitalisation, and in lung and pancreatic cancer for more precise diagnosis through imaging.