Moneera Haque, MD, PhD, of the division of cardiovascular medicine, has been awarded a $762,000 grant over two years from the University of Kentucky’s EXCEL (Executive Clinical Expert Leadership) Research Initiative. EXCEL is an internal funding program offered by a partnership among the University of Kentucky Office of the Provost, UK HealthCare, the Vice President for Research (VPR) and the College of Medicine. This funding will support Dr. Haque’s project, HeartLens: Using Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Imaging as a New Diagnostic Tool to Revolutionize the Detection and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease.
In collaboration with W. Brent Seales, PhD, from the UK College of Engineering, HeartLens is a pioneering initiative that integrates the power of artificial intelligence (AI) with advanced radiologic imaging to transform how cardiovascular disease is detected, understood, and treated. With Kentucky ranking among the highest in cardiovascular mortality rates in the United States, HeartLens addresses a critical and urgent need in our commonwealth.
A central goal of HeartLens is to establish a dedicated research Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS), a first-of-its-kind infrastructure capable of mining two decades of medical imaging data for clinical and research breakthroughs. This massive and largely untapped imaging archive represents a transformative opportunity. By applying machine learning models to identify patterns and risk factors not discernible to the human eye, HeartLens aims to advance early detection, risk stratification, and precision-based treatment of cardiovascular disease, Kentucky’s leading cause of death.
While current diagnostic tools are valuable, they have limitations. HeartLens introduces a paradigm shift by augmenting human expertise with AI to accelerate diagnosis, personalize treatment, and improve outcomes, particularly for underserved populations. By uniting medicine, engineering, and informatics, the initiative transforms a dormant clinical archive into a powerful tool for timely and less invasive interventions.
HeartLens is not just a research grant; it is an investment in Kentucky’s health infrastructure.