Precision Health and Environment

Cluster Goals

Teasing out relationships between health outcomes and the myriad of factors is complex. Predicting outcomes and integrating data into individualized patient care strategies are even more challenging—and promising. 

We believe convergent science will lead to breakthroughs in understanding the health and well-being of individuals, communities, and societies. The work of the Precision Health cluster at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will focus on linkages between climate, social determinants of health, health history and resources, pollution, water quality, genomics, lifestyle, and mental health to describe and predict health outcomes. Leveraging machine learning and aggregated electronic health records, the cluster will develop nuanced pictures of those relationships in diverse communities from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mountains. We’ll target Tennessee’s top health care problems—cardiac conditions, respiratory conditions, and cancers—along with vector-borne diseases, infectious diseases, and mental health conditions.

The cluster will apply these discoveries to enhance health by deepening our understanding of the intricate connections that shape health outcomes. Ultimately, our data-driven work will undergird tools for practitioners, public health leaders, and others.

An Environment for Collaboration

The cluster integrates expertise and innovation from many disciplines, including:

• Public health
• Nursing
• Environmental engineering
• Chemistry
• Microbial ecology
• Mathematics
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Climatic and environmental modeling
• Health informatics 
• Epidemiology
• Genomics

Why UT?

New hires will join more than two dozen rising and senior faculty members to build on UT’s strengths while creating something new: a model for effective collaboration in convergent research. We’re determined to realize the full possibilities of collaborative discovery, interdisciplinary curricula, and center-scale funding for precision health. 

The cluster bridges key UT research priorities: human health and wellness, energy and environment, and artificial intelligence. In doing so, it addresses a suite of intertwined federal funding priorities. It also bridges knowledge, experience, and data from multiple UT colleges, the UT Institute of Agriculture (including the UT One Health Initiative), and UT Medical Center. 

The cluster is organized into four working groups: environmental informatics, health data optimization, machine learning and modeling, and health outcomes integration. Each is built on a robust core of faculty expertise and domain-specific data and models. Cluster members will seek opportunities to collaborate with and leverage resources from the National Institute for Modeling Biological Systems (NIMBioS), the Center of Excellence in Livestock Diseases and Human Health, and the Genomics Center for the Advancement of Agriculture.

UT Medical Center and community partner Cherokee Health Systems will provide a health care practice perspective to help us accelerate translation from discovery in the lab to real-world impact in the community.