Microsoft AI for Good awards announced

Researchers at UW Medicine received three of the 20 Microsoft AI for Good awards presented to diverse entities across Washington state as a goodwill gift to celebrate the corporation’s 50th anniversary.  

The multinational technology company, headquartered in Redmond, Wash., was founded on April 4, 1975, by Seattle natives Bill Gates and Paul Allen. 

The company’s new award program will leverage artificial intelligence to address social and scientific challenges. Groups selected for the awards are working in sustainability, education, health and the public good. 

UW Medicine recipients included the Institute for Protein Design, the Department of Radiology and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. A fourth UW award went to t Computing and Engineering’s Information and Communication Technology Lab. 

The AI for Good awards, totaling $5 million, were announced April 29 at a ceremony at the UW Paul G. Allen School for Computer Science & Engineering. 

The event included a panel discussion, followed by a Q & A. The panelists were:  David Baker, professor of biochemistry at the UW School of Medicine, director of the UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design, and 2024 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry; Dr. Christopher J. L. Murray, professor and chair of health metrics sciences at the UW School of Medicine and director of the Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation; and Elizabeth R. Cantwell, president of Washington State University. The moderator was Mary Snapp, Microsoft vice president for strategic initiatives.  

The discussion explored the role of AI in advancing science and in improving the human condition, and the importance of collaborations in serving science and humanity. 

When asked if AI will replace the need for human scientists, Murray reflected that, "AI fundamentally changes the way we as scientists approach our work and opens up the opportunity to spend more time thinking through the right lines of inquiry to pursue. For IHME, AI enables us to deliver evidence that can drive improvements in population health at an accelerated pace." 

The award to IHME will be used to build a global cloud laboratory to examine health locally by using satellite imagery, AI and spatial demography. These analyses may help predict risks like drought and food insecurity that threaten specific populations in various areas of the world and may help suggest actionable health insights.  

Institute for Protein Design researchers will use their award to train specialized AI models to develop next-generation therapeutics and biomaterials. One of their goals is to create new ways of precisely targeting diseases. These efforts would include seeking new cancer therapies and treatments for chronic illnesses. The team is also developing enzymes to break down plastics pollution. 

“Upon completion, these AI models will be freely available for all scientists to use, thereby magnifying their global impact,” said Baker. “The IPD's AI for Good award underscores how large-scale computing power combined with cutting-edge laboratory science can profoundly benefit human health, sustainability, and scientific innovation in Washington state and beyond.” 

The award to UW Medicine Radiology will support efforts to help patients diagnosed with cancer understand their imaging reports. Dr. Majid Chalian, associate professor of radiology, will lead this work. An AI program will extract and translate radiology report findings to prepare clear, plain-language explanations of the results. A mix of healthcare experts will review these and give feedback to the AI model so it can learn, constantly improve, and reduce misunderstandings. The hope is that this approach, as its accuracy and adaptability is enhanced over time, will foster better communication between medical professionals and their patients.  

For details about UW Medicine, please visit http://uwmedicine.org/about.