A $1 million grant from Eli Lilly and Company will fund a two-year project intended to bridge the gaps in obesity treatment by leveraging AI technologies at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The project is led by You Chen, PhD, associate professor of biomedical informatics and the project’s principal investigator for informatics and technology, and Gitanjali Srivastava, MD, professor of medicine in the division of diabetes and endocrinology and metabolism, and the project’s clinical leader.
The team will identify why patients discontinue obesity treatment by analyzing electronic health records, surveying patients and clinicians, and using artificial intelligence. This project exemplifies how collaborations between academia and industry have potential to improve healthcare systems.
The Vanderbilt Industry Collaborations team worked with VUMC teams and drove this process through a relationship-first approach that achieves mutually beneficial outcomes. The team’s strategic engagement with Lilly has led to invitations for Vanderbilt faculty to participate in Lilly-led initiatives, including this AI-powered obesity care project.
You says," Obesity affects nearly half of U.S. adults, and even incremental improvements in care can yield outsized benefits for our communities. The Vanderbilt Industry Collaborations team has been a vital bridge between our VUMC research team and Eli Lilly and Company—aligning scientific aims with real-world pathways, streamlining collaboration, and guiding responsible commercialization.” He continues,
“With the team’s leadership, we’ve been able to pursue an important research partnership that advances the translation of our work to patients."
The Industry Collaborations team guided Chen, the Principal Investigator, towards this Lilly opportunity, coached him on best practices, and facilitated connections with the appropriate departments for strategic planning and intellectual property related discussions.
"This project represents exactly the kind of innovative, data-driven approach needed to tackle complex healthcare challenges," says Swapneeta Date, assistant director of life sciences collaborations. She continues, "More importantly, it showcases how intentional relationship-building between academia and industry can create opportunities that ultimately benefit patient care."
Through this AI-powered project, Chen and Srivastava are paving the way towards more sustainable obesity care. Chris Rowe, executive director of industry collaborations says, “Projects like this illustrate the power of collaboration across the Vanderbilt campus. Our true value proposition is realized when the university and medical center teams work together for a positive, shared impact.”
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