The NYU School of Global Public Health (NYU GPH) has joined a global initiative to reimagine how cities address heart health disparities using artificial intelligence—starting with New York City.
The AI4HealthyCities Health Equity Network – created by the Novartis Foundation in partnership with Microsoft AI for Health – aims to use innovative data science techniques to provide health authorities, health system leaders and other decision makers with insights and tools to help in identifying the root causes of heart health disparities. These data-driven insights will demonstrate how health outcomes can be improved by changing the underlying social, economic and environmental determinants of health, such as housing, pollution, access to fresh food, opportunities to exercise, racism, wealth and style of living.
“Whether global or local, health inequalities are shaped by economic status and access to resources,” said Ann Aerts, head of the Novartis Foundation. “In New York and other cities, we believe that AI-driven data and insights can help stakeholders make informed decisions about impactful urban heart health interventions that ultimately reach the greatest number of people.”
Applying data science and artificial intelligence to health and neighborhood information will help urban policymakers target public health resources toward interventions that can have the greatest impact on cardiovascular disease—the world’s number one cause of death and a driver leading cause of health disparities in the US
“Where people live and work in New York, and their degree of social and economic disadvantage, have a greater impact on their risk of developing cardiovascular disease than their access to health care. This initiative will give us better insights into the cardiovascular health of New Yorkers in an effort to identify the most pressing issues to address and shape our city’s policies,” said José Pagán, professor of public health policy and management at NYU GPH and chairman of the Board of Directors of NYC Health + Hospitals, New York City’s public hospital system.
As part of AI4HealthyCities, NYU GPH will lead research in collaboration with Microsoft AI for Health bringing together data on cardiovascular disease and key social determinants of heart health in New York City. Researchers will assess which social determinants are most strongly associated with high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart attack and stroke. it affects approximately one in four New Yorkers, especially black and Latino adults. The project also aims to create a neighborhood-level cardiovascular risk score and map that can be used by local health leaders to guide their efforts to improve heart health.
“Health equity is central to the mission and values of NYC Health + Hospitals. Finding new ways to use data on the social determinants of cardiovascular health and disease can help inform our work and deliver on the promise of enabling all New Yorkers to live their healthiest lives,” Mitchell said. Katz, President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals.
“Combining anonymized population data from many different sources enables us to use machine learning to get down to the street level in estimating cardiovascular risk levels. If implemented properly, this could revolutionize preventive interventions in heart health,” said Juan Lavista, Chief Data Scientist at Microsoft.
“We know that social determinants play an important role in shaping health outcomes and inequalities. A data-informed approach to addressing these structural drivers of health disparities begins with fostering interdisciplinary efforts that include knowledge across multiple disciplines and sectors,” said Ji Chang, assistant professor of public health policy and management at NYU GPH and principal investigator of the AI4HealthyCities project. “We are excited to work with our partners to further investigate the mechanisms linking social determinants to health outcomes and disparities.”
The Novartis Foundation, Microsoft AI for Health and NYU GPH will launch AI4HealthyCities at a hybrid event on Monday, September 19. Visit the event website to register for the live stream.
About the NYU School of Global Public Health
At the NYU School of Global Public Health (NYU GPH), we are preparing the next generation of public health pioneers with the critical thinking skills, acumen, and entrepreneurial approaches needed to reinvent the public health paradigm. Committed to using a non-traditional, interdisciplinary model, NYU GPH aims to improve health worldwide through a unique blend of global public health scholarship, research and practice. The school is located in the heart of New York City and spans NYU’s global network on six continents. Innovation is at the core of our ambitious approach, thinking and teaching. For more visit: public health.nyu.edu
