Perry Pickhardt, MD and John Garrett, PhD are among the finalists for the 2024 Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) Innovation Awards for their work, “Innovative Screening Tool for Age-Related Diseases,” which aims provide a “biological age” for a patient that may differ from their actual age and guide improvements in health. Dr. Pickhardt and Dr. Garrett collaborated with the late Michael Kattan, PhD, MBA, from the Cleveland Clinic Department, who was an innovator in modern statistical prediction methods for medical decision making.
Drs. Pickhardt, Garrett, and Kattan developed a set of AI learning-based tools that measure and assess different characteristics of a patient’s CT scan, such as aortic plaque, muscle density and distribution, and organ volumes and densities. Using this information, a predictive model compares the patient’s data against people who share the same age, genetic background, and other factors that can impact health. The resulting analysis can predict how the patient is aging compared to other individuals who share similar traits and provides a “biological age.”
With the insight this technology could provide in clinical settings, health care professionals and patients could better understand what may be causing a higher biological age, such as high aortic plaque and fat. Specific medical and lifestyle changes could be identified and tailored to reverse these conditions and lower the advanced biological age.
In a video about this work, Dr. Garrett says, “one of the things I love about this field of opportunistic screening is that one of the goals is to do more than just get somebody back to baseline; but to find a way to help them live their healthiest, best life and to prevent stuff from happening in the first place.”
The WARF Innovation Awards recognize some of the best inventions at UW-Madison. An independent panel of judges selects the winners from a field of six finalists drawn from hundreds of invention disclosures submitted to WARF over the past year. The WARF Innovation Awards finalists are considered exceptional in the following criteria:
- Has potential for high long-term impact
- Presents an exciting solution to a known significant problem
- Could produce broad benefits for humankind
“Each year, our Innovation Awards shine a spotlight on the most exciting early-stage discoveries on campus,” says Erik Iverson, CEO of WARF. “We’re pleased to celebrate the nominees and all UW-Madison innovators working to discover and translate research with the power to impact lives.”
Earlier this year, Dr. Pickhardt was also honored with a 2024-2025 WARF Named Professorship. This award recognizes faculty who have made major contributions to the advancement of knowledge, primarily through their research endeavors, but also through their teaching and service activities.
For more information about the awards and finalists, please visit the WARF Innovation Awards page.
Check out the video below to watch Dr. Garrett discuss the screening tool for age-related diseases.