Strategic Initiative: Artificial Intelligence and Health

AI-Driven Health Care Innovation

Through bold leadership, deep scientific expertise, and strategic partnerships, the University of Arizona is advancing transformative AI and ML solutions that will define the future of health care.

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Addressing Critical Health Care Challenges

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are transforming health care. These advances are redefining how disease is diagnosed, treatment is personalized, and clinical care services are delivered. The ability of AI and ML to analyze vast datasets and identify patterns invisible to humans, will transform diagnostic precision, enable therapeutic tailoring, accelerate drug discovery, and expand access to care, particularly in rural areas with underserved clinical networks. AI-driven innovations, such as precision medicine and AI-powered imaging tools, are already improving patient outcomes. For example, algorithms analyze genomic data to tailor cancer treatments and empower radiologic early disease detection.

From using AI to trace the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, to forecasting asthma attacks with mobile apps, to combining virtual reality with AI to diagnose traumatic brain injuries on the battlefield, U of A researchers turn discoveries into solutions grounded in both scientific excellence and real-world relevance.

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Discovery to Solutions

AI/ML innovation will allow practitioners to use real-time diagnostics, detect diseases earlier, predict disease progression, deliver more personalized care, and improve patient outcomes.

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The AI Health Workforce of Tomorrow 

As AI reshapes diagnostics, treatment, and care delivery, the health sector faces a pressing demand for professionals fluent in both medicine and machine learning. Preparing this next-generation workforce requires more than technical training—it demands ethical grounding, hands-on experience, and transdisciplinary fluency. The University of Arizona is equipping future leaders to navigate and define this evolving landscape, ensuring the health workforce remains as innovative as the technologies it deploys. 

Resilient Health Systems for a Changing World

Global health threats—ranging from emerging pandemics to climate-sensitive diseases—are increasing in complexity and unpredictability. AI offers powerful tools for early detection, dynamic response, and scalable care delivery. By advancing predictive modeling, smart diagnostics, and remote health solutions, University of Arizona researchers are helping build more adaptive and resilient health systems—capable of protecting communities amid uncertainty and change. 

Arizona’s Moment: Ready to Lead

Arizona is a rising national leader in health innovation. With over 133,000 bioscience jobs and more than 2,000 life science companies, the state ranks among the top 10 for bioscience job growth. Arizona’s bioscience industry grew 18% from 2018 to 2022, far outpacing the national average. As a hub for telemedicine, digital health, and AI-driven care, Arizona offers unmatched opportunities to deploy and scale health care innovations. Strategic proximity to major markets like California, Texas, and Mexico makes it a vital corridor for biotech expansion. 

The University of Arizona’s translational research prowess and deep bench of interdisciplinary faculty experts are laying the foundation for a smarter, more connected, and accessible health care system.

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Economic Growth

Arizona is poised to lead the next wave of health care innovation, fueling new industries, creating high-paying jobs, and driving long-term economic growth across the state and beyond.

Establishing a Health Innovation Hub 

With expertise in health sciences, biosciences, data science, and clinical medicine—and partnerships with Banner Health, El Rio Community Health Center, and others—the University of Arizona is uniquely positioned to leverage AI/ML in driving breakthrough projects and initiatives that will improve and save lives.

Anchored by a robust ecosystem that includes two accredited colleges of medicine, Arizona’s only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center, the BIO5 Institute, the Center for Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, and Tech Launch Arizona, this initiative builds on a legacy of improving lives and strengthening communities across Arizona and beyond.

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Responding to Demand

AI/ML tools are advancing innovation that responds to real-world needs, sustaining healthy communities in Arizona and across the globe. 

In the News

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Our Goals

  • Accelerate biomedical research: Applying AI/ML in basic research and discovery, and translational, clinical, and population health studies to improve outcomes and individualize treatment.
  • Advance AI-driven drug discovery: Streamline development of new therapies through AI/ML models that reduce costs and accelerate timelines.
  • Expand rural access: Deploy AI-powered tools across the state to improve health care delivery and reduce long-standing care gaps.
  • Train the future workforce: Embed AI fluency into health professional education to prepare tomorrow’s leaders.
  • Scale adoption: Partner with Banner, federal agencies, and the private sector to accelerate real-world use and regulatory progress.
  • Drive economic growth: Investments in AI and health care will create high-wage jobs, attract new partnerships, and solidify Arizona’s leadership in the bioscience and digital health sectors.
  • Work with Tech Launch Arizona to bring new AI/ML health solutions to market and create new companies with high growth potential.
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Meet Our Team 

Our renowned faculty are driving advances that place Arizona at the center of AI-powered health innovation.

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David Ebert

Serving as the strategic architect for the university's AI and data science vision, David Ebert will lead an interdisciplinary program designed to advance the university's role as a global leader in the responsible application of AI and ML. Ebert will lead the development of the university's AI and health initiative and help launch a unified Data Science Institute.

 

David Ebert
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Justin Starren

Justin Starren, MD, PhD, is Director of the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics at the University of Arizona Health Sciences, with over 30 years of experience translating informatics research into real-world health solutions. He is known for leading national projects that integrate genomic and patient-reported data into electronic health records to advance precision medicine and improve care delivery.

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Dan Theodorescu

Dan Theodorescu is the Nancy C. and Craig M. Berge Director of the University of Arizona’s NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and a professor of Urology and Cellular and Molecular Medicine. A globally recognized cancer researcher, he has led major advances in understanding bladder cancer, discovering biomarkers and drug targets, and developing precision therapies

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