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Photo: UMass Amherst
Four research teams from UMass Chan Medical School and the University of Massachusetts Amherst have received inaugural, $100,000, 12-month pilot grants to develop digital health technologies to improve disease prediction and monitor patient care from the Riccio Digital Medicine and Health Technology Initiative. The funding for the projects comes from a portion of the historic $50 million gift from UMass alumnus Dan Riccio to the Riccio College of Engineering at UMass Amherst, which was set aside to catalyze new initiatives.
“My investment in the Riccio College of Engineering and UMass was inspired in part by the belief that combining the strengths of UMass Amherst and UMass Chan could accelerate the development of innovative digital health technologies that improve patient care and make a meaningful impact on the common good,” Riccio said.
“These inaugural pilot projects demonstrate what’s possible when we bring talented researchers together across disciplines and campuses. I’m excited to see where these collaborations lead and the impact they can have.”
Riccio and his wife, Diane M. Casey Riccio, PhD’03, pledged $15 million to UMass Chan in 2022 to support advances in neuroscience research. It was the third and largest donation made to UMass Chan by the couple.
“We’re grateful to Mr. Riccio for his philanthropic support of UMass,” said Chancellor David D. McManus, MD’02, ScM’12, MBA. “The initiative will enhance the partnership between UMass Chan and UMass Amherst and will lead to a deeper understanding of how digital healthcare can improve human lives.”
The four projects include:
- Monitoring gout flares: Timothy McAlindon, MD, MPH, professor of medicine, is collaborating with UMass Amherst engineers to develop a wearable biosensor that tracks metabolic biomarkers to support more personalized gout management.
- Predicting age-related macular degeneration: Johanna M. Seddon, MD, ScM, FARVO, FASRS, the Dr. Eileen L. Berman and Stanley I. Berman Foundation Chair in Biomedical Research II and chair and professor of ophthalmology & visual sciences, is partnering with UMass Amherst researchers to use artificial intelligence to identify patients at risk of progressing to advanced age-related macular degeneration.
- Predicting respiratory deterioration in premature infants: Lawrence M. Rhein, MD, MPH, the Stoddard Chair of Pediatrics and chair and professor of pediatrics, is working with UMass Amherst computer scientists to determine whether pulse oximeter data can help predict worsening breathing in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a chronic lung condition.
- Identifying early signs of lupus flares: Apurv Soni, MD, PhD’21, assistant professor of medicine and director of the Program in Digital Medicine, is collaborating with UMass Amherst researchers to evaluate whether overnight blood pressure patterns captured by a wearable ring could help identify early signs of lupus flares.
