Carnegie Mellon University

Dear Members of the University Community:

The creation of the Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance, formed by CMU, the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC, launches an unprecedented partnership that we believe will both revolutionize data-driven health care globally and enhance economic development for broad societal benefits.

This new partnership takes advantage of the complementary strengths and geographic proximity of our three institutions. Fueled by computer science, machine learning and statistics, engineering, health sciences research, clinical care, patient data and commercialization expertise, the alliance has the right ingredients to develop groundbreaking advances in patient care.

The alliance will initially support two centers to carry out its work: Carnegie Mellon's Center for Machine Learning and Health (CMLH) and the Center for Commercial Applications of Healthcare Data at the University of Pittsburgh. Faculty and students from across both universities will have the opportunity to be affiliated with these centers. For the CMLH, a steering committee will be formed to solicit and review research and development proposals, and also to create a structure that accommodates idea exchange and collaboration across the university.

In addition to new research, another key goal of the alliance is technology transfer and economic development. We expect that the alliance and the centers will attract companies and entrepreneurs who will help advance the technology to practice.

So far the partnership has garnered very positive attention from the region and media outlets. You can learn more about this alliance on our Web story, and additional information will be shared as this partnership unfolds in the coming months.

Farnam Jahanian
Vice President for Research