UTHealth Houston and OpenAI announce groundbreaking collaboration

Amar Yousif, vice president and chief information officer, and Xiaoqian Jiang, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Health Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics. (Graphic by UTHealth Houston)

UTHealth Houston and OpenAI have announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration in the United States, marking the integration of AI technology into health care and education while protecting privacy.

UTHealth Houston will be giving students, faculty, and staff access to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Education tool, leveraging the platform to build custom solutions that are compliant with both the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The compliance with HIPAA and FERPA ensures the protection of sensitive health and educational information.

“We are excited to offer OpenAI’s powerful tools to our community in a manner that complies with HIPAA and FERPA regulations,” said Amar Yousif, vice president and chief information officer at UTHealth Houston. “By using these advanced tools, we aim to develop safe and trusted solutions that improve the patient experience, drive innovative research, streamline operations, and provide state-of-the-art capabilities for data analysis. Ultimately, this will benefit our entire health care and academic ecosystem.”

The collaboration leverages OpenAI’s expertise in developing AI models and UTHealth Houston’s position as one of the nation’s most comprehensive academic health centers.

“This collaboration is a testament to the forward-thinking leadership at UTHealth Houston,” said Xiaoqian Jiang, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Health Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics at UTHealth Houston. “By leveraging OpenAI’s cutting-edge technology, we are enhancing our capabilities to develop AI-driven solutions that will significantly impact health care and education. With the strong support and enthusiasm from our visionary leaders and clinical partners, we are advancing our research and clinical practices to ensure the highest standards of privacy and security. This partnership shows our unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence in biomedical informatics.”

Jiang also serves as associate vice president for Medical AI at UTHealth Houston and is the Christopher Sarofim Family Professor in Biomedical Informatics and Engineering at the School of Biomedical Informatics.

“We are thrilled to partner with UTHealth Houston to deploy AI that powers world-class research and clinical work, all with safety and compliance at the forefront,” said Brad Lightcap, OpenAI chief operating officer.