The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has established the National Artificial Intelligence Institute (NAII), designed to advance the health and well-being of veterans.
The new NAII is incorporating input from veterans and its partners across federal agencies, industry, nonprofits and academia, to prioritize and realize artificial intelligence (AI) research and development that is meaningful to veterans and the public, according to VA officials.
The institute is a joint initiative by the Office of Research and Development and the Office of the Secretary's Center for Strategic Partnerships in VA, and will design and collaborate on large-scale AI R&D initiatives, national AI policy, and partnerships across agencies, industries, and academia, officials noted.
VA executives pointed out that the department “is the largest integrated healthcare system in the country, has the largest genomic knowledge base in the world linked to healthcare information, and trains the largest number of nurses and doctors in the United States.”
In fact, they added, “nearly three-quarters of all U.S. doctors receive training in VA. Given this, VA is uniquely positioned to advance AI research and development to the frontiers of science and health for our nation's Veterans, and the population at large.”
Gil Alterovitz, M.D., was named VA’s first-ever AI director earlier this year, and has been working to build AI R&D capacity to help veterans. He has led national and international collaborative initiatives for developing novel informatics methods and approaches for integrating clinical, pharmaceutical, and genomic information, from research to point-of-care, according to VA executives.
VA has been using AI to reduce veterans’ wait times, identify those at high risk for suicide, to help doctors interpret the results of cancer lab tests and to choose effective therapies.
“VA has a unique opportunity to be a leader in artificial intelligence,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement. “VA’s artificial intelligence institute will usher in new capabilities and opportunities that will improve health outcomes for our nation’s heroes.”
