The Roux Institute has appointed Raimond Winslow, Ph.D., as Professor of Bioengineering and Director of Life Science and Medical Research, one of three major research verticals at the institute. Life Science and Medicine, Engineering, and Data Visualization round out the institute’s research portfolio which is unified by a common thread of data science, AI, and machine learning. These verticals will be complemented and underpinned by the Institute for Experiential AI, led by Dr. Usama Fayyad, who was recruited to Northeastern in late 2020.

About the appointment, Dr. Winslow says, “While physicians will always be at the tip of the spear helping their patients make health care decisions, over the coming decade these decisions will be increasingly informed by the results of models and algorithms that operate on patient data to help physicians deliver improved healthcare tailored to patient needs. The Roux Institute is uniquely positioned to be the world-wide epicenter of this emerging discipline of Computational Medicine.”

Dr. Winslow joined the Roux Institute from his role as the Raj and Neera Singh Professor of Biomedical Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he was the Founding Director of the Institute for Computational Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Whiting School of Engineering.

In collaboration with colleagues at Hopkins and around the world, Dr. Winslow has contributed to the emergence of computational medicine, a discipline devoted to the development of quantitative approaches for understanding the mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of human disease through applications of mathematics, engineering, and computational science.

Dr. Winslow’s research is focused in two areas. The first is use of computational modeling to understand the molecular mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, and sudden cardiac death. The second is use of modeling methods to predict both the evolution of a patient’s health status over time, and the impending occurrence of significant adverse events before they occur.

Enormous strides are being made in the field of medicine to understand how Big Data can drive medical decisions and practice. Dr. Winslow’s technologies can be applied to understand how real-time health monitoring devices, like a Fitbit or those that you’d see in the intensive care unit, may translate to predictive power for disease outcomes, like stroke, septic shock, heart attack, and more.

In his role at the Roux Institute, Dr. Winslow will be working directly with founding corporate partner, MaineHealth, to develop the technology that will be used to optimize patient health outcomes.

Dr. Winslow goes on to say, “MaineHealth is a flagship healthcare delivery network in Maine and Northern New England. Its member hospitals have nationally-recognized clinical faculty and dedicated caregivers with reach throughout the state. We envision a network of Smart Hospitals in which data science, defined in the broadest sense, is ubiquitous, informing physicians on the healthcare decisions they must make, informing caregivers on patient activities and needs, and contributing to the most positive and beneficial experience possible for patients.”

According to Senior Vice Provost for the Roux Institute, Michael Pollastri, “Recruiting Rai to the Roux Institute brings the formidable power of computational medicine to Maine, not just as an interesting research area of phenomenal academic interest, but one completely aligned with the needs of patients in Maine.” Pollastri adds, “As MaineHealth is dedicated to the health and well-being of Mainers, this is an enormously exciting collaborative opportunity that is completely synergistic.”

In addition to MaineHealth, several leading life science-based partners, including The Jackson Laboratory, and IDEXX, are exploring collaboration opportunities at the interface of data and life sciences with Drs. Winslow and Fayyad.

Pollastri goes on to say that, “A benefit of hiring world-class researchers and subject-matter experts like Rai and the rest of our academic leadership team, faculty, and researchers is that they all bring enormous depth, breadth, and creativity to addressing the challenges and opportunities facing Maine. Our research program, enabled by ML, AI, and data science, will be an unbelievably powerful engine for innovation that will translate to advances for our partners, to new commercial enterprises, and to society in Maine, New England, and beyond.”