FLC partners with Colorado SPH experts to explore AI solutions for public health in underserved communities

DURANGO— How can artificial intelligence and machine learning improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations in southern Colorado?

Fort Lewis College Provost Mario Martinez plans to answer this question with the help of a $522,000 National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant aimed at health equity and AI in public health.

Martinez, the grant’s principal investigator, is collaborating with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), a data science company, a local healthcare provider, and researchers from FLC and the Colorado School of Public Health (ColoradoSPH).

“Partnering to address healthcare disparities is essential for the college and our region,” Martinez said. “This grant is the perfect opportunity to team with state partners to ensure this work benefits underserved communities in our region and the state.” 

The grant, funded by a national initiative called AIM-AHEAD (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity), aims to increase capacity in rural Colorado for AI and machine learning in health equity space.

The first phase will use machine learning to access CDPHE’s health database and examine health disparities among rural Colorado populations. In the second phase, the results from the machine learning modeling will inform the creation of AI chatbots—computer programs that simulate human conversations. These AI chatbots will be piloted for outreach with Indigenous and Latino residents, suggest preventive actions and health solutions.

Martinez said the project will help establish mutually beneficial partnerships to enhance the participation and representation of underrepresented communities and researchers in AI/ML model development.

“It aims to improve the capabilities of this emerging technology, beginning with electronic health records and extending to other diverse data to address health disparities and inequities,” he said. “Maintaining data privacy and ensuring we build culturally responsive dimensions into the models is also a top priority.”

Martinez and the grant team will receive guidance from Spero Manson, Ph.D., a distinguished professor at Colorado School of Public Health- CU Anschutz (ColoradoSPH) and director of the Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Health (CAIANH). Team members on the HEAL grant include Ned Calonge, MD, MPH, a ColoradoSPH associate dean and chief medical officer of the CDPHE; Sheana Bull, a retired ColoradoSPH professor and owner of Clinic Chat, LLC, an AI company; and Southwest Health Systems.  Martinez said FLC professors and students are also key to the project.

CAIANH serves as a leader for the North and Midwest region of AIM-AHEAD, intending to extend the initiative into American Indian and Alaska Native and Latinx communities. Specifically, CAIANH's purpose in this regard is to establish mutually beneficial and coordinated partnerships to increase the representation of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Latinx researchers, educational institutions, healthcare organizations, and communities in the development of AI/ML models through participation in the AIM-AHEAD consortium.

Additionally, CAIANH helps to build the capacity of Native and Latinx organizations to employ this emerging technology to address pressing health disparities.