University of Vermont Receives $38 Million for Digital Twin Research

The University of Vermont's Larner College of Medicine has secured up to $38 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The project aims to determine if digital twins can be used to test and refine medical treatments for patients in intensive care.

The initiative, named ReSCUED (Reprogramming Severe Critical Illness Using Extensible Digital Twins), will focus on creating computational models of patient immune responses. A digital twin uses continuous data to mirror a real-world system, allowing for the simulation of various treatment scenarios before they are applied to a patient. This approach is intended to aid in managing complex conditions like sepsis.

Led by Dr. Gary An, a trauma surgeon and professor at UVM, the five-year project will utilize patient data, including medical records and frequent blood samples, to refine these models. The ultimate goal is to develop a platform that assists clinicians in making more informed treatment decisions by predicting individual patient reactions.

Clinical partners for the study include Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersking School of Medicine, and Washington University School of Medicine. Med-tech companies DNA Medicine Institute and InflammaSense will contribute technology for testing and monitoring. Researchers hope this platform will ultimately improve health outcomes for critically ill patients.