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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) wants to become a leader in artificial intelligence and launched a new national institute to spur research and development in the space.

The VA's new National Artificial Intelligence Institute (NAII) is incorporating input from veterans and its partners across federal agencies, industry, nonprofits, and academiato prioritize AI R&D toimprove veterans' health and public health initiatives, the VA said in a press release.

VA has a unique opportunity to be a leader in artificial intelligence, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement.VAs artificial intelligence institute will usher in new capabilities and opportunities that will improve health outcomes for our nations heroes.

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For its AI projects, the VA plans to leverage itsintegrated health care system and the healthcare data it has amassed, thanks to itsMillion Veteran Program. That program has collected 800,000 veterans' data in a genomic database with the goal of researching how genes, lifestyleand military exposures affect health and illness.

The VA has tapped biomedical informatics leaderGilAlterovitz, Ph.D., to lead the NAII as the institute's director. Alterovitzis afaculty at Harvard Medical School in the Center for Biomedical Informatics. He is the director of the Biomedical Cybernetics Laboratory and core faculty member of the Childrens Hospital Informatics Program.

According to the VA, Alterovitz 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.

Alterovitz ledthe Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT's "Sync for Genes" effort, an initiative to advancethe use of standards to enable and improve patients ability to share their genomics information.

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VA has used AI and machine learning technologies to help reduce veterans wait times and identify those at high risk for suicide. The department's AI initiatives also have helpeddoctors interpret the results of cancer lab tests and choose effective therapies, according to the VA.

NAII is a joint initiative between VAs Office of Research and Development and Secretarys the Center for Strategic Partnerships. The programwill design, execute and collaborate on large-scale initiatives and national strategyand build on the American AI Initiative and the National AI R&D Strategic Plan.

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VA launches National Artificial Intelligence Institute to drive research and development - FierceHealthcare