Innovative data science will enable scalable and accessible personalized, predictive and proactive medicine for patients

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic Platform is expanding its distributed data network, Mayo Clinic Platform_Connect¹, to include Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Brazil, Sheba Medical Center in Israel and University Health Network (UHN) in Canada, joining Mercy, Connect’s first member. The first-of-its-kind global alliance establishes a data-sharing network that transcends language barriers and accelerates AI-based solutions by using current data science and years of clinical data to create better patient outcomes around the world.

Mayo Clinic Platform_Connect provides secure, cloud-based access to de-identified clinical data across three continents. Connect uses Mayo Clinic Platform’s proprietary Data Behind Glass² approach that enables each organization to work with an extensive set of de-identified data without moving it among the organizations. Each health care system keeps control over its de-identified data throughout the process.

"We describe the data needed for fair, equitable AI as having depth (types of information), breadth (number of patients) and spread (heterogeneity). To transform health care globally, we must expand our distributed data networks to every continent. We must protect privacy, adhere to international laws and regulations, and incorporate knowledge from every language. Today, three premier medical centers in South America, Canada and the Middle East are joining our network. They will inspire and guide other regions and systems to join our worldwide effort," says John Halamka, M.D., president of Mayo Clinic Platform.

Until recently, complex types of medical information such as integrated electronic health records data, radiology and pathology images, and videos were too unstructured and complex to analyze. The diversity of languages presented a significant barrier to consolidating clinical data on a global scale. With the combination of privacy-protected, cloud-based storage and the growth of AI and machine learning, Mayo Clinic Platform and the members of Connect will use aggregated, de-identified clinical data to generate patterns to pinpoint disease earlier and identify the best treatment options.

"We are thrilled to be part of this historic alliance to transform the future of health. Creating a truly global network that will break down language barriers and enable the inclusion of diverse populations, we are unlocking the potential of AI solutions to revolutionize health care worldwide. This is not just a game-changer, but a visionary leap toward data-driven health care," says Eyal Zimlichman, M.D., chief transformation officer and chief innovation officer at Sheba Medical Center, and director and founder of ARC Innovation at Sheba Medical Center.

"University Health Network is proud to join the other remarkable hospitals in Mayo Clinic’s Platform_Connect network to form an innovative and ambitious global coalition. Teamwork, technology and bold thinking are essential to transforming the ways that health care is delivered and putting patients first – goals that UHN shares with Mayo Clinic," says Kevin Smith, D.Phil., UHN’s president and CEO.

Connect will add a number of additional U.S. and global members in the coming months. The collaboration’s success rests on each entity sharing its strengths. In joining Mayo Clinic and Mercy, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Sheba Medical Center and UHN will contribute to AI models that overcome language barriers, using data from global populations across different geographies to improve accuracy, reduce model bias and create more diverse, and therefore stronger, treatment recommendations for patients.

"In addition to accelerating the possibilities of leveraging and transforming data-based care, Mayo Clinic Platform_Connect will allow the inclusion of the Latin American population, currently underrepresented in research, in global studies with cutting-edge technology and artificial intelligence," says Sidney Klajner, president of Einstein. "There is a clear need to consider this population profile, taking into account the context and genetic characteristics. This will be reflected in the development of more equitable health projects, expanding the supply of low-cost digital resources for vaccines and medicines, for example. We are honored to be founding members of this important network led by Mayo Clinic."

The alliance will initially focus on patient outcomes through:

• Information collaboration — Secure cloud-based use of Data Behind Glass allows each collaborator to base decisions on a wider range of clinical outcomes gathered over time. The information will help scientists analyze patterns of effective disease treatment and, more importantly, disease prevention in new ways, based on reviews of incremental clinical patient data over time. 
• Solution and algorithm development, validation and deployment — The resulting AI-based solutions will provide proven treatment paths based on years of patient outcomes, representing the next generation of proactive and predictive medicine that can be used by care providers around the world.

"Mayo Clinic is transforming health care, but we are not doing this work alone," says Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., president and CEO of Mayo Clinic. "We created Mayo Clinic Platform_Connect to enable innovative organizations to join us to partner to create a healthier, more equitable future for everybody."

¹ Trademark pending
² Trademark pending

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About Mayo Clinic Platform
Founded on Mayo Clinic’s dedication to patient-centered care, Mayo Clinic Platform enables new knowledge, new solutions and new technologies through collaborations with health technology innovators to create a healthier world.

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network for additional Mayo Clinic news. 

About Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein
Founded in 1955, Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein is a non-profit organization and operates in private and public health in all stages of healthcare, teaching and education, consulting, research and innovation, and social responsibility. The service provision structure is comprised of 21 private and 30 units in the Public Health System (SUS) and 11 teaching units. Einstein provides healthcare services to around 3 million people, has more than 57 thousand students from kindergarten to graduate courses and carries out at any given time around 1 thousand scientific and clinical research projects.

About Sheba Medical Center
Sheba Medical Center provides innovative, personalized medical care to patients from around the world. We are the largest, most comprehensive hospital in the Middle East and dedicated to providing advanced and compassionate medicine for everyone.

About University Health Network
University Health Network consists of Toronto General and Toronto Western Hospitals, the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and The Michener Institute of Education at UHN. The scope of research and complexity of cases at University Health Network has made it a national and international source for discovery, education and patient care. It has the largest hospital-based research program in Canada, with major research in cardiology, transplantation, neurosciences, oncology, surgical innovation, infectious diseases, genomic medicine and rehabilitation medicine. University Health Network is a research hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto. For more information: https://www.uhn.ca/

Mayo Clinic media contact:

• Terri Malloy, Mayo Clinic Communications, newsbureau@mayo.edu

Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein media contact:

• Thais Alessandra Perez Camargo, Albert Einstein Communications, thais.camargo@einstein.br

Sheba Medical Center media contacts:

• Steve Walz, Sheba Communications, Steve.Walz@sheba.health.gov.il
• Dalia Landes, Sheba Communications, Dalia.Landes@sheba.health.gov.il

University Health Network media contacts:

• Daniel Giraud, Communications, UHN, Daniel.Girard@uhn.ca
• Ben Pakuts, Communications, UHN, Benjamin.Pakuts@uhnresearch.ca

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