Infrastructure enhancements powered by Dell Technologies will help Pitt accelerate AI-powered health care

The University of Pittsburgh Department of Pathology’s Computational Pathology and AI Center of Excellence (CPACE) is accelerating efforts to transform medicine by using artificial intelligence to detect disease earlier, more efficiently and more accurately.

Pathologists play a critical role in diagnosing disease by analyzing biological samples, such as tissue or blood, and laboratory tests. CPACE develops and applies artificial intelligence tools to help these specialists work faster and more accurately — detecting diseases earlier, improving diagnostic precision and helping guide more personalized treatment.

CPACE’s AI initiatives will be powered by Dell Technologies servers and data storage systems so the center can analyze medical images and data on a much larger scale. Secured as a grant from Dell through a partnership between CPACE and Pitt Digital, this technology will help the center expand AI tools already in development and create new applications to ultimately serve patients by supporting physicians, trainees, students and staff.

“This collaboration with Dell Technologies represents a tremendous opportunity to push the boundaries of what's possible in precision medicine,” said Hooman Rashidi, Pitt’s associate dean of AI in medicine and executive director of CPACE. “With this AI infrastructure, we can scale our innovations to benefit patients across the region, while helping shape the future of diagnostic medicine globally.”

The investment will advance CPACE's work in several key areas:

• Detecting diseases earlier through AI-assisted analysis of tissue samples and lab results
• Helping physicians make faster, more informed treatment decisions
• Moving research discoveries into clinical practice more quickly
• Training the next generation of healthcare professionals to use AI tools responsibly

“Pathology has emerged as a global epicenter of AI innovation, driven by its rich diagnostic data, critical workforce needs and proven clinical impact,” said Liron Pantanowitz, chair of the Department of Pathology. “We are thrilled that Dell Technologies is supporting this domain to power large-scale digital pathology, precision medicine and enterprise-grade AI infrastructure. Together, we’re energizing the mission to accelerate safer, faster cancer diagnostics in-house and hopefully worldwide.”