In a recent visit to the University of Michigan, the WashU Digital Transformation team gained insights from a wealth of similar initiatives on the UM campus, centered around healthcare, AI, digital infrastructure, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Healthcare Transformation at IHPI: The Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI) showcased a university-wide endeavor spanning multiple campuses, emphasizing equity, quality, safety, and affordability of healthcare. With over 680 faculty members and a commitment to fostering collaboration, and evidence-based practices, IHPI serves as a hub for shared resources and infrastructure, such as data, NLP, and leveraging core IT services.
Strategic e-Health and AI Integration: The e-HAIL Initiative, a joint medicine and engineering program to use AI to improve health, highlighted various projects including the use of AI for early diagnosis of a variety of conditions. This initiative serves as a platform for leveraging eHealth as a “strategic research domain.”
Research IT and Infrastructure: The Research IT team demonstrated their advanced computing infrastructure, indicating a substantial investment in HPC and a highly subsidized access model for investigators.
Cross-Campus Collaborations and Initiatives: Throughout the visit, collaborations across multiple schools and departments were key to several initiatives, facilitated by various programs such as MICHR, Collaboratory, and DLHS. These initiatives emphasized the translation of research into real-world applications and facilitated interdisciplinary projects involving fields like informatics, engineering, and data science.
Challenges and Opportunities: Numerous challenges were acknowledged, including aligning grant funding models, incentivizing faculty across diverse disciplines, and fostering physical and virtual spaces for collaborative work. The need for cluster hiring, cross-campus policies for class buyouts, and streamlining faculty appointments was recognized as crucial for further collaborative success.
Future Direction for Digital Transformation: The visit highlighted the importance of establishing neutral ground for collaboration, incentivizing joint appointments, and developing educational programs complementing research initiatives. It also underscored the necessity of expanding faculty leadership teams and utilizing undergraduate students as valuable resources in interdisciplinary research.
The insights gained from this visit to the University of Michigan serve as a beacon of inspiration for the Digital Transformation team at Washington University, offering valuable perspectives on collaborative models, infrastructure, and interdisciplinary initiatives. The collaborative spirit and strategic frameworks observed at Michigan are invaluable guideposts for our own digital future.