Monash University and Alfred Hospital are developing an artificial intelligence-based system to improve the way superbugs are diagnosed, treated, and prevented.
According to Monash University professor of digital health Christopher Bain, infections from superbugs kill 700,000 people every year and by 2050, the world could see 10 million deaths annually from previously treatable diseases.
Superbugs are created when microbes evolve to become immune from the effects of antimicrobials.
The project, which will be mainly based at The Alfred, has received AU$3.4 million from the federal government's Medical Research Future fund.
According to the project's lead researcher, Antony Peleg, the project will look to integrate genomics, electronic healthcare data, and AI technologies to address antimicrobial resistance in the healthcare system. Specifically, it will leverage tens of thousands of data points per patient and infecting pathogens to help predict treatment responses and patient outcomes.
"This project will push the boundaries of what can be achieved in healthcare and how new technologies can be applied to understand how superbugs infect humans and the way they are transmitted within a hospital system," Peleg said.
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In addition to providing earlier detection of antimicrobial resistance, the two organisations are also hoping the system will be able to create personalised treatment for patients and prevent outbreaks.
Elsewhere in Australia's health sector, AustCyber has provided AU$500,000 in funding to cybersecurity startup Haventec to develop a new health consent system.
The system, called eConsent for Genomics, is aimed at improving how healthcare providers, service providers, and patients securely store and consent to personal health information.
The funding will come from the AustCyber Projects Fund, which is a three-year AU$15 million federal government initiative designed to help the Australian