A Message from the Interim Senior Vice President and Dean, John Sealy School of Medicine, and Chief Research Officer

Dear UTMB Community,

It is with great enthusiasm that I announce the official launch of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center at UTMB, a transformative step in our institution’s commitment to innovation, health system excellence, and patient-centered care.

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing healthcare—accelerating diagnostics, enabling personalized medicine, enhancing operational efficiency, and supporting clinical decision-making. As an academic medical center, UTMB has both the opportunity and the responsibility to shape the future of AI in medicine. The AI Center will serve as the institutional platform to meet this responsibility with integrity, scientific rigor, and vision.

We are proud to share that the Center will be directed by Peter McCaffrey, MD, MS, FCAP, Assistant Professor of Pathology, who also serves as UTMB’s Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Director of Laboratory Information Services, and Director of Pathology Informatics and Bioinformatics. At the state level, Dr. McCaffrey is Co-Chair of the University of Texas System AI Collaborative and a contributor to Texas legislative initiatives on AI. His scholarly work spans AI in pathology, predictive modeling, imaging analytics, and ethical frameworks for clinical AI deployment.

The AI Center will focus on building the infrastructure and partnerships necessary to support responsible AI development and deployment within UTMB’s clinical, operational, and research environments. Its core goals include:

• Advancing UTMB’s use of AI across care delivery, biomedical research, and administrative operations.
  

• Creating safe and exploratory spaces for testing and mastering AI applications.
  

• Supporting training and scholarship to build AI literacy and leadership across UTMB’s academic programs.
  

• Developing agile infrastructure for iterative development, evaluation, and refinement of AI tools.
  

• Ensuring ethical AI deployment, with attention to safety, equity, and policy best practices.
  

At the heart of the Center’s early initiatives is the creation of a dedicated Epic sandbox environment — a secure, production-modeled replica of our clinical system. This will enable rapid prototyping and validation of AI tools in a controlled setting. The sandbox will support:

• Strategic industry partnerships to serve as a super site for AI-driven diagnostics and decision support.
  

• Early-stage technology engagement, enabling co-development and validation of startup tools in partnership with UTMB Medical Branch Innovations.
  

• Pre-deployment evaluation of Epic’s growing portfolio of AI products, including generative AI features.
  

• The UTMB AI Experience Lab, a multidisciplinary environment for user-centered design, clinical workflow optimization, co-development workshops, and hands-on AI training.
  

This new Center represents a critical investment in the future of healthcare delivery, research innovation, and educational excellence. Through thoughtful design, strategic collaboration, and a deep commitment to patient-centered values, the AI Center will ensure UTMB remains at the forefront of responsible artificial intelligence in medicine.

Antonio C. Bianco, MD, PhD
Interim Senior Vice President and Dean, John Sealy School of Medicine
Chief Research Officer