Amazon Machine Learning Award to Accelerate Innovations and Scalability at UPMC-Affiliated Research Alliance

Thanks to a Machine Learning Research Award from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to a research alliance supported by UPMC Enterprises, a seed has been planted to accelerate the consortium's medical research initiatives, help participating entrepreneurs more rapidly scale their innovations, and, in some small fashion, contribute to positioning the Pittsburgh area as a healthcare technology innovation hub. The award provides researchers access to Amazon's cloud-based platform and machine learning tools, enabling them to incorporate sophisticated technology into innovations at an early stage of the development process. These innovations "will be able to be deployed more easily in the real world," says Rob Hartman, PhD, director of translational science, UPMC Enterprises. The Amazon award was made to the Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance (PHDA), which was formed four years ago by UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University. PDHA uses "big data" generated in health care--including patient information in the electronic health record, diagnostic imaging, prescriptions, genomic profiles, and insurance records--to transform the way that diseases are treated and prevented, and to better engage patients in their own care, according to a news release.