Georgia Tech Launches AI-Driven Health Innovation Center to Model Disease at the Cellular Level
Key Insights
Georgia Tech announced the Parker H. Petit Center for AI-Driven Health Innovation, funded by a transformational commitment from alumnus Parker H. "Pete" Petit.
The center's first initiative will create virtual models of human cells to study disease progression and identify individualized treatments, led by Professor Jeffrey Skolnick.
Initial disease targets include pancreatic cancer (search) and glioblastoma (search), with future expansion into cancer biomarker discovery, healthy aging, and advanced cellular therapies.
The Georgia Institute of Technology today announced the creation of the Parker H. Petit Center for AI-Driven Health Innovation, a new interdisciplinary research center that will harness artificial intelligence to predict, treat, and prevent disease. The center is made possible by a transformational commitment from technology entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Georgia Tech alumnus Parker H. "Pete" Petit.
"Medical innovation is one of the fastest-growing areas in Georgia Tech's research, and Pete Petit's commitment will help us further shape the future of medicine," said Ángel Cabrera, president of Georgia Tech. "This new research center will find new ways to harness the power of AI to accelerate critical medical discoveries and move them into clinical settings so patients can get the care they need."
Building on a Legacy of Bioengineering Excellence
The Petit Center builds on Petit's longstanding philanthropic relationship with Georgia Tech. Since 1980, he has provided significant support across campus, including the naming of the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (search) (IBB), one of Georgia Tech's 11 Interdisciplinary Research Institutes. IBB serves as an interdisciplinary hub that brings together engineers, scientists, and clinicians to accelerate innovations in diagnostics, therapeutics, medical devices, and biomanufacturing. The institute currently encompasses more than 300 interdisciplinary faculty researchers, 13 research centers, and 1,300 trainees.
The success of IBB led Petit to make his latest investment, which will build on Georgia Tech's broader commitment to applying engineering, computing, AI, biosciences, and systems thinking to complex health challenges. The Petit Center's work will strengthen the tools, partnerships, and research pathways needed to help more discoveries move from the lab toward real-world patient care.
Virtual Cell Models as a First Research Priority
A key goal of the Petit Center will be to use AI to build more precise models of how disease works in the body. Its first research initiative will focus on creating virtual models of human cells. Led by Jeffrey Skolnick, Regents' Professor and Mary and Maisie Gibson Chair and GRA Eminent Scholar in Computational Systems Biology in the School of Biological Sciences, researchers will use those models to study how diseases progress and to identify treatments that may work best for individual patients.
By modeling disease at the cellular level, researchers can test ideas faster, uncover links among different diseases, and focus on therapies most likely to help patients based on their unique biology. The work could expedite the discovery of new therapies for some of the hardest-to-treat diseases, including pancreatic cancer (search) and glioblastoma (search), an aggressive form of brain cancer.
"Georgia Tech has the expertise to redefine what is possible in healthcare through AI," said Skolnick. "By combining advanced computational methods with biological and medical insights, we can create powerful new approaches to predicting disease, identifying treatments, and improving patient outcomes."
Infrastructure and Future Expansion
The Parker H. Petit Center for AI-Driven Health Innovation will operate under the Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS) and bring together researchers from across Georgia Tech to advance AI-driven approaches to human health. Researchers affiliated with the Petit Center will work across fields and with clinical and healthcare organizations to help close the gap between discovery and practical use.
Petit's commitment will support advanced computing infrastructure, graduate and postdoctoral fellowships, seed research grants, and annual programs that will bring together leading researchers from around the world working at the intersection of AI and health. Over time and with additional investments, the Petit Center's work will expand into areas such as cancer biomarker discovery, healthy aging, advanced cellular therapies, and AI-supported healthcare systems.
"I believe artificial intelligence will fundamentally reshape healthcare, and I am excited to support a center that can help accelerate discoveries to improve and save lives," said Petit. This transformative commitment is included in Transforming Tomorrow: The Campaign for Georgia Tech.