Zephyr AI, a precision medicine company focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), on Thursday announced a partnership with MedStar Health that will leverage real-world health data to develop predictive models of chronic disease. The partnership will initially focus on type 2 diabetes (T2D), using MedStar’s anonymized T2D dataset.
“We are focused on delivering outcomes that improve the timeliness of T2D interventions and reduce the devastating adverse health effects commonly associated with chronic disease, such as end-stage chronic kidney disease, dialysis, foot ulcers and amputations,” said Grant Verstandig. co-founder and executive chairman and CEO of Zephyr AI and also founding partner of venture capital firm Red Cell Partners.
MedStar Health is a $6.7 billion integrated healthcare network operating more than 300 sites in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. In addition to providing healthcare in the region, MedStar is also a research and very active teaching. Founded in 1963, the institute serves more than 1,000 associates at 40 sites who research a wide range of diseases and also has an active clinical trials arm.
“Our partnership with Zephyr AI is a game-changing opportunity to develop innovative artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, starting with type 2 diabetes, to benefit our patients and providers,” said Stephen RT Evans. , MD, executive vice president and CMO of MedStar Health. “Together, Zephyr AI and MedStar Health can develop technology that brings the promise of precision medicine to chronic disease and complements our existing programs to improve outcomes and reduce costs for people with diabetes.”
Zephyr AI, founded in 2021 through incubator Red Cell Partners, leverages data and an AI/ML approach to solving press health issues. It operates largely in three areas: oncology, where its vulnerability network method helps develop algorithms to classify tumors while revealing new targets for drug discovery, label expansion and care precision; predictive analytics for population health, patient management and clinical decision support; and data as a service that normalizes disparate data sets to enable more efficient research.
For the MedStar partnership, Zephyr AI will apply its Insights clinical decision support tool to help refine predictive models of T2D and inform patient care.
“While there have always been well-known population risk factors associated with adverse outcomes in patients diagnosed with T2DM, this partnership will allow Zephyr AI to train our breakthrough machine learning models on one of robust DT2 datasets in the world,” said David L. Morgan II, CEO of Zephyr AI. “Combining our team’s world-class AI with data and expertise from MedStar Health dramatically increases the accuracy of our collective predictions and will help both partners move from population-level predictive capability to predictive ability at the individual level. This relationship means we can leverage real-world data from a renowned healthcare system that has one of the most advanced, innovative, and successful T2D programs in the United States. Ultimately, we believe we can help patients better manage their diabetes by developing predictive tools for clinicians.”