A team including John C. Malone Assistant Professor of Civil and Systems Engineering Kimia Ghobadi has been selected to receive support from the third round of grant funding from the Johns Hopkins Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratory for Aging Research, or JH AITC. Totaling just over $1.5 million, this round supports the collaboratory’s mission by funding the development of artificial intelligence technologies to improve the health and independence of older adults.
Ghobadi and her research partner, Dew-Anne Langcaon of Honolulu-based home care provider Vivia Cares, Inc., will receive up to $200,000 in direct costs over a one-year period, as well as access to resources and mentorship from university experts.
Launched in 2021 with a $20 million grant from the National Institute on Aging, the JH AITC is a national hub for innovations in healthy aging and cross-disciplinary collaboration within the Johns Hopkins community and beyond. Its primary goal is to connect this research network with outside stakeholders, including older Americans and their caregivers, technology developers, and industry partners.
The pilots funded by this round seek to leverage AI to support healthy aging and ease the burden placed on caregivers. In this vein, Ghobadi and Langcaon aim to build an AI-driven smart scheduling module that will help home care providers save time and reduce costs.
“As the U.S. population ages, its need for home care visits is growing,” says Ghobadi. “Our goal is to use AI and optimization to build smart scheduling systems that can accommodate a diverse set of services for patients to best meet their needs—and can also optimize caregivers’ tasks to best utilize their time.”