Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., is formalizing its investment in AI with the launch of a new division focused on pediatric research.
The hospital announced March 23 it has created a Division of AI Research to centralize work across clinicians, scientists and engineers developing AI tools for children’s health.
Artificial intelligence adoption has accelerated across healthcare, but pediatric applications remain limited. Children make up more than a quarter of the global population but account for a much smaller share of AI research, largely due to smaller datasets and the complexity of childhood diseases, according to a March 23 news release.
The new division is intended to address those challenges by building infrastructure dedicated to pediatric-specific data and clinical needs.
Marius George Linguraru, DPhil, will lead the division. He currently serves as Connor Family Professor and chair of research and innovation at the hospital and has worked on AI applications in areas such as brain imaging, cardiac diagnostics and genetic disorders.
The division will act as a central resource for researchers across the system, offering support such as mentorship, data access and pathways for clinical validation. The goal is to move projects from early-stage concepts to tools that can be used in patient care, according to the release.
It will also provide internal funding opportunities and project intake support while helping position the organization for additional federal funding and industry partnerships.
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