What is AIM-AHEAD?

The National Institutes of Health’s Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) program has established mutually beneficial, coordinated, and trusted partnerships to enhance the participation and representation of researchers and communities currently underrepresented in the development of AI/ML models and to improve the capabilities of this emerging technology, beginning with electronic health records (EHR) and extending to other diverse data to address health disparities and inequities.

The rapid increase in the volume of data generated through electronic health records (EHR) and other biomedical research presents exciting opportunities for developing data science approaches (e.g., AI/ML methods) for biomedical research and improving healthcare. Many challenges hinder more widespread use of AI/ML technologies, such as the cost, capability for widespread application, and access to appropriate infrastructure, resources, and training. Additionally, lack of diversity of both data and researchers in the AI/ML field runs the risk of creating and perpetuating harmful biases in its practice, algorithms, and outcomes, thus fostering continued health disparities and inequities. Many underrepresented and underserved communities, which are often disproportionately affected by diseases and health conditions, have the potential to contribute expertise, data, diverse recruitment strategies, and cutting-edge science, and to inform the field on the most urgent research questions, but may lack financial, infrastructural, and data science training capacity to apply AI/ML approaches to research questions of interest to them. This program seeks to enhance trust within the communities impacted by this program.

National Institutes of Health is committed to leveraging the potential of AI/ML to accelerate the pace of biomedical innovation, while prioritizing and addressing health disparities and inequities. Tackling the complex drivers of health disparities and inequities requires an innovative and transdisciplinary framework that transcends scientific and organizational silos. Mutually beneficial and trusted partnerships can be established to enhance the participation and representation of researchers and communities currently underrepresented in AI/ML modelling and application, and improve the capabilities of data curation and this emerging technology.

The AIM-AHEAD Coordinating Center is a consortium of institutions and organizations that have a core mission to serve minorities and other under-represented or underserved groups impacted by health disparities.

The AIM-AHEAD Coordinating Center will consist of 4 Cores:

1. Administration/Leadership Core - Lead, recruit, and coordinate the AIM-AHEAD Consortium
2. Data Science Training Core - Assess, develop, and implement data science training curriculum
3. Data and Research Core - Address research priorities and needs to form an inclusive basis for AI/ML
4. Infrastructure Core - Assess data, computing, and software infrastructure to facilitate AI/ML and health disparities research