College of Arts & Sciences receives major grant to support Ethical Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Initiative

College of Arts & Sciences receives major grant to support Ethical Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Initiative

January 12, 2024

Contact: Kawana McGough, Office of Communications, Public Relations and Marketing

Tuskegee University College of Arts & Sciences received a $500,000 grant from the AIM AHEAD Consortium, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) project. This funding will support the "Promoting Health Equity through Ethical Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML): A Collaborative Initiative for Data Governance and Access in Healthcare" project, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at strengthening data governance and promoting health equity in the healthcare sector, focusing on minority populations.

This grant marks a critical phase in Tuskegee University's ongoing commitment to biomedical research and ethical AI/ML in healthcare. Dr. Channa Prakash, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and the project's principal investigator, stated, "Tuskegee University is at the forefront of biomedical research, especially in computational biology, and has a rich legacy in bioethics. This grant allows us to enhance health equity and reduce health disparities through the ethical use of AI. We're excited about the potential for expanding this initiative into a multi-million-dollar, international center of excellence to guide AI in healthcare, especially in mitigating racial bias in AI models."

The project will unfold in Phase I, which includes team-building, needs assessment, and planning activities to establish a robust partnership between Tuskegee University and the University of Texas Health Houston. The collaborative effort is spearheaded by Dr. Channa Prakash and Dr. Xiaoqian Jiang from UT Houston. The Tuskegee team consists of experts primarily from the College of Arts & Sciences, including Dr. Vivian Carter, Dr. Stephen Sodeke, Dr. Honghe Wang, Dr. Balu Karanam, Dr. Chitra Nayak, and Dr. Yardimici. It extends to engineering and business/information science faculty, including Dr. Mandoye Ndoye and Dr. Xiao Chang.

To learn more about the team and their innovative work, visit https://aim-ahead-dicb.github.io/dicb_uttu/team.

For additional information about the Tuskegee University AI in healthcare project, please visit https://aim-ahead-dicb.github.io/dicb_uttu.

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