IUCRC Planning Grant University of Louisiana at Lafayette (Lead Site): Center for Accessible Healthcare through AI-Augmented Decisions (AHeAD)

The Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) for Accessible Healthcare through AI-Augmented Decisions (AHeAD) will develop trustworthy and usable AI technologies, so quality care is accessible by all populations. AHeAD is a multi-university research partnership between UL Lafayette (lead), Tulane, University of Florida and Georgia Tech. The center’s research will create validated AI-enabled systems, quality assurance frameworks, and best practices that enable healthcare organizations to offer quality care for all, reducing healthcare gaps while saving costs. By training the next-generation AI workforce and releasing open-source AI models, the center will drive innovation, create new jobs, and grow the American economy. AHeaD's goal is to develop trustworthy AI technologies that improve healthcare access and outcomes for all populations. Research focuses on creating privacy-preserving, interoperable, explainable and resource-efficient AI models for healthcare. The center's multidisciplinary program includes AI/ML, data science, systems engineering, and health sciences, supported by computational infrastructure and real-world health data through industry partnerships. Research will advance trustworthy AI, privacy-aware data integration, behavioral context modeling, and human-AI integration. The center will foster workforce development through student training and industry collaborations, building a skilled talent pool to accelerate healthcare AI translation from research to practice. UL Lafayette’s research focus includes federated learning, data science and engineering, conversational agents, intelligent systems engineering, and health informatics. Furthermore, the university leverages strong partnerships with public health agencies, various healthcare organizations, and local/state-level economic development entities to translate AI research into practical applications. AHeAD will address critical national healthcare challenges and advance U.S. competitiveness in AI-enabled healthcare. The Center creates a rich environment for training next-generation professionals through integrating industry-relevant AI applications into curriculum development and providing direct experience solving healthcare challenges with real-world data. The Center will create and maintain standardized healthcare datasets, publish open-source software and research outputs, and advance technologies with broad healthcare applications. This multifaceted approach promises to improve the health of millions of Americans while generating substantial cost savings for both government and industry. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.