Tulane to administer NIH-funded diabetes control application

An AI-based risk model, partially developed by research done at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, will serve as the focal point in the development of a new application used by clinicians to support patient-specific diabetes control goals, as part of a recently awarded $1.3 million NIH grant.

Tulane will administer the second portion of the grant. The application will generate personalized treatment goals tailored for patients with Type 2 diabetes by utilizing the AI model developed by Lizheng Shi, Endowed Regents Professor and interim chair in the Department of Health Policy and Management. Dr. Vivian Fonseca, section chief of endocrinology at the Tulane School of Medicine, is co-principal investigator for the grant.

The risk model will be introduced in the EMR, allowing an immediate real-time discussion of goals between the clinician and patient.

“At Tulane University, we are excited about the opportunity to implement a clinician-facing application which will enable clinicians and patients to jointly establish patient-specific optimal diabetes control goals,” said Fonseca.

“These projects will greatly enhance the LA CaTS [ Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science] Center’s ability to address health care disparities and will set a precedent for use of FHIR-based applications for purposes of precision medicine and fostering greater patient engagement,” he added.

Awarded as a single grant, the funds will be primarily split between two LA CaTS member institutions: nearly $780,000 for the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and $490,000 for Tulane University School of Medicine.

Together, these two projects will strengthen the LA CaTS Center’s capacity to address health care disparities, supporting community specific research, as well as fostering greater patient engagement through a tailored approach to health care.