The intersection of tech and healthcare is seeing a new development at the University of Cincinnati, where a novel AI platform named OncoSupport, designed by a student, is entering the clinical trial phase. This platform aims to connect cancer patients to support groups, but with a personalized approach that accounts for individual concerns and circumstances. Reports from the University of Cincinnati detail the workings of OncoSupport, which leverages machine learning to group patients for support based on numerous factors such as language, cancer type, and personal challenges.
OncoSupport's creator, Siddhant Nagar, is a fourth-year UC medical sciences and honors student. Throughout his work in patient care and volunteerism at Blood Cancer United, Nagar recognized the chasm often present in mental health care for cancer patients. Having developed the platform's initial version and machine-learning algorithm in summer 2023, OncoSupport represents Nagar's endeavors to merge his niche in machine learning with tangible medical applications. While volunteering, he once said in an interview obtained by the University of Cincinnati, "It took a very long time to build it, and additional software engineering support has since been brought on to continue advancing the platform."
The clinical trial at the forefront of this initiative is set to include 40 to 60 participants, all patients being treated for cancer at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center. Patients will be grouped into Zoom support sessions run by licensed mental health professionals, with assignments based on their input into the OncoSupport algorithm. Assessments will be made to gauge the platform's feasibility, including its reception among patients and healthcare providers and its effectiveness in reducing psychological distress among participants.
In an effort to support Nagar's visionary work, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center researchers Anjanette Wells, PhD, and Georgia Anderson, PhD, are co-principal investigators for the trial. Both have a personal stake in the project, having close family experiences with cancer. Wells, whose father is undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma, highlighted the importance of the project's innovative union of medicine and technology, saying, "I like the customization and the tailoring that has gone into it, and I’m excited to be on the project." Likewise, Anderson once shared with the University of Cincinnati about learning from ongoing experiences with psychosocial clinical care, "That’s what I love about being a social worker, doing psychosocial clinical care, is every time you think you’ve got it figured out, you learn something new because all people are different and circumstances are always moving." The project offers a new avenue for providers to meet the diverse psychosocial needs of cancer patients more effectively.
As OncoSupport moves through its pilot phase, its creator harbors ambitions of conducting Phase 2 randomized control trials and ultimately sees the platform being utilized nationwide. Nagar's mission is to fill a gap in social support services for cancer patients by providing better-tailored, more accessible mental health care options that meet their unique needs. If this platform's trial proves successful, it could pave the way for a broader implementation of AI in patient support services across the healthcare industry.
