The mad scientists of AI

The ideas and innovators shaping health care

Nov 03, 2023 View in browser   By Carmen Paun, Erin Schumaker, Daniel Payne, Evan Peng and Ruth Reader DANGER ZONE The White House sees a threat in AI-driven manipulation of DNA. | AP Artificial intelligence designs a new toxin that doesn’t exist in nature. Someone then uses a machine the size of a microwave — called a benchtop DNA synthetic device — to produce it and spread it, potentially triggering a new pandemic. This might sound like science fiction but experts warn that it could happen if governments don’t set rules for how AI is used in synthetic biology. The White House is taking a crack at it. In his executive order on AI this week, President Joe Biden requested: — A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report with recommendations on how to mitigate risks from AI trained on biological data and also an assessment of how AI could be used to reduce biosecurity risks; — Rules from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for providers of synthetic nucleic acid sequences, requiring them to identify biological sequences that could be used to engineer a bioweapon and to screen their customers; — Requirements for the beneficiaries of federal life science research grants that they procure synthetic nucleic acid only from companies that follow the OSTP rules. Why it matters: “Accelerating AI-enabled capabilities to engineer living systems are making it very difficult for governments to keep up and provide oversight,” said Jaime Yassif, vice president for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonprofit working to reduce the chance of nuclear and biological war. Yassif is one of the authors of a new report about how to prevent a catastrophe as AI and life sciences converge. “Most of the research about how to put guardrails in place is ahead of us. We don’t have all the answers,” she told Carmen.   GO INSIDE THE CAPITOL DOME: From the outset, POLITICO has been your eyes and ears on Capitol Hill, providing the most thorough Congress coverage — from political characters and emerging leaders to leadership squabbles and policy nuggets during committee markups and hearings. We're stepping up our game to ensure you’re fully informed on every key detail inside the Capitol Dome, all day, every day. Start your day with Playbook AM, refuel at midday with our Playbook PM halftime report and enrich your evening discussions with Huddle. Plus, stay updated with real-time buzz all day through our brand new Inside Congress Live feature. Learn more and subscribe here.     WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE Washington, D.C. | Shawn Zeller This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care. Share any thoughts, news, tips and feedback with Carmen Paun at cpaun@politico.com, Daniel Payne at dpayne@politico.com, Evan Peng at epeng@politico.com or Erin Schumaker at eschumaker@politico.com. Send tips securely through SecureDrop, Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp. Today on our Pulse Check podcast, host Ben Leonard talks with POLITICO health care reporter David Lim, who explains why patient advocates and the pharma industry have concerns about potential conflicts of interest from some speakers at CMS' ongoing public listening sessions on Medicare drug price negotiations. Listen to today’s Pulse Check podcast Diagnosis Detecting brain injuries in soldiers is the subject of new Pentagon-sponsored research. | Getty Images The Department of Defense has awarded researchers at the University of Arizona $1.5 million to design a virtual reality assessment system for traumatic brain injuries — a technology they hope to one day use in the field. How so? Arizona psychiatry professor William Killgore is hard at work on project VRMONA, for Virtual Reality Military Operational Neuropsychological Assessment. The goal is to build a lightweight, portable device that relies on artificial intelligence to analyze cognitive performance after brain injuries. To develop that technology, research participants play a short VR combat game using a headset and a hand-sensor system. They encounter scenarios that involve situational awareness, decision making and friend-or-foe choices, while the system collects data about their accuracy, response time, motor coordination and inhibition. The researchers will use the data to train the VR system to identify when a traumatic brain injury has affected a wearer’s cognitive ability. Why it matters: Brain injuries, such as concussions, are a common combat injury. Such injuries must be quickly evaluated to determine their severity and get timely and appropriate treatment. But evaluations are traditionally performed by a medical professional trained in clinical psychology and neuropsychology, expertise that’s not always readily available in far-flung combat zones. What’s next? Killgore pictures tailoring the system beyond the military for civilian uses, like sports, medicine and first-responder settings. FORWARD THINKING Solar panels are going up at a Boston hospital, and patients could benefit. | Boston Medical Center A Boston hospital plans to use clean energy credits to pay patients’ electric bills. How so? Boston Medical Center intends to use the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program, which Congress created in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act, to pay for solar panels to power the hospital, POLITICO’s Christine Mui reports. The panels send excess power to the grid and generate electric bill credits that the hospital plans to pass on to Medicaid recipients. The hospital hopes to distribute credits worth around $50 a month to 80 people. Why it matters: Boston Medical Center serves a large Medicaid population and screens patients for various health-related social needs, including difficulty paying utility bills. Doctors have written letters to utilities to prevent disconnections — and have received growing requests for them, rising from 752 in 2018 to more than 1,340 so far this year. What’s next? The hospital said it’s enrolling patients, prioritizing those with serious health issues. It expects the solar array to be operational by the end of the year — just in time to help with Boston’s winter heating bills. WASHINGTON WATCH Chu's got concerns about AI making coverage decisions. | AFP via Getty Images Democrats in the House are worried that the private insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans are using artificial intelligence to make coverage decisions that harm patients. Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) led 30 of their colleagues in sending a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday asking CMS to look into it. Specifically, the group wants CMS to: — determine whether insurers are relying on AI to make coverage decisions; — require Medicare Advantage plans to provide more details to the government when they deny patients care, including the reasoning behind the decision and the demographics of those affected; — dig into the algorithms, if insurers are using them, and assess the risks they pose. The group also asked CMS to require Medicare Advantage plans to attest that their coverage is no more restrictive than that of Medicare — at a time when insurers’ practice of requiring their prior authorization before care is provided remains a point of contention, with some lawmakers working to restrict it. What's next? CMS said it planned to respond.   DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO APP: Stay in the know with the POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS – DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID.     INNOVATORS Milken, here we come. | AFP via Getty Images The Future Pulse team is heading to the Milken Institute’s Future of Health Summit, running from Nov. 6 through Nov. 8 in Washington. We’ll be on the ground, bringing you the inside scoop on health care trends, where policymakers and thought leaders stand on controversial topics like artificial intelligence and how innovation is changing patients’ and health care workers’ lives. We’ll report insights from: Health policy heavyweights: Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.). Government health leaders: Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health, and Renee Wegrzyn, director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health Global health officials: Dr. Atul Gawande, assistant administrator for global health at the Agency for International Development, and John Nkengasong, the State Department’s global AIDS coordinator We’ll also bring you coverage from key panels:   AI’s moment: A week after the Biden administration announced an executive order on artificial intelligence, experts take on the advanced tech’s role in health care — as well as the risks and benefits that will come with adoption. What Daniel’s watching for: Clues about where policymakers should focus AI regulation and where the immediate impacts of AI will be felt most. Youth mental health: Experts from Flourish Labs; the National Alliance on Mental Illness; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine; and the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute will discuss what can be done to help young Americans with depression, anxiety and substance use disorder. What Carmen’s watching for: Solutions to America’s youth mental health crisis. Health worker burnout: The panel comes on the heels of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report last month, which found an increasing number of providers feel burned out. Panelist Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld, president of the American Medical Association, has told us that “reducing the stigma around mental health care and burnout,” is among his priorities. What Evan’s watching for: Innovative ideas from the AMA to reduce burnout and boost the current health workforce’s impact — from AI to electronic health record improvements, plus insights into where the practice of medicine is heading in the future. Digital therapeutics: CEOs and the Food and Drug Administration's Troy Tazbaz convene to talk about challenges facing the industry, whether digital health products still have advantages over their conventional counterparts and whether there are viable reimbursement models for software-based medicine. What Erin’s watching for: Mentions of Pear Therapeutics, the digital therapeutics company that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, and whether that fallout has prompted the industry to rethink its approach.   Follow us on Twitter Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker Evan Peng @thepngfile   Follow us

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