Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are collaborating to help develop new ways to detect and diagnose diseases

September 10, 2026 - Columbia researchers will be able to access AWS cloud and AI technology, allowing rapid access to large, complex data sets to help speed the development of models that predict health outcomes and advance patient care. The collaboration will support research from the earliest stages through commercial activities. Specifically, AWS will provide cloud computing access to:

• Early-career faculty working on discovering new disease markers
• Faculty conducting sponsored research
• Faculty building startup companies based on their discoveries

AWS will also help build a secure online research portal designed to meet CUIMC's strict and sensitive biomedical research, security, and compliance needs.
"CUIMC is committed to equipping our research community with world-class computational resources, including through strategic collaborations with leading innovators such as AWS," says Despina Kontos, PhD, Chief Research Information Officer, CUIMC. "Scientists are increasingly utilizing AI and other cloud-based technologies to speed imaging analysis, identify biomarkers, and analyze massive datasets. This collaboration will give our scientists broad access to the web-based cloud computing and machine learning tools that are fundamental to developing diagnostics and individualized treatment protocols."

AWS will support activities including the Center for Innovation in Imaging Biomarkers and Integrated Diagnostics & AWS Junior Scholars program, which will help early-career scholars accelerate technical skill development in cloud computing, data science, and related disciplines through hands-on experience with AWS cloud technologies. AWS experts will work with the CUIMC community to provide training on recent innovations in AWS artificial intelligence, machine learning, and high-performance computing services.

"AWS's commitment will help advance CUIMC's bold scientific vision, including state-of-the-art research innovation that addresses today's most pressing health challenges while preparing the next generation of researchers," said Kim Majerus, Vice President of Global Education and Local Government at AWS. "We're proud to deepen our collaboration with CUIMC, bringing the power of the cloud to help researchers accelerate discovery, scale breakthrough innovation, and advance new approaches to understanding and treating disease."

"This collaboration will help strengthen the CUIMC research ecosystem by providing infrastructure to support Columbia's AI strategy in the health sciences," said Noémie Elhadad, PhD, Vice Dean for AI Initiatives at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. "This collaboration will help our researchers to develop and deploy AI solutions more effectively, while maintaining essential rigor and security."

"Our collaboration with AWS will give researchers at CUIMC access to AI tools and resources that are critical for conducting ground-breaking biomedical and clinical research, further advancing Columbia University's leadership as a world-class research institution," said Jeannette Wing, PhD, Executive Vice President for Research and professor of computer science at Columbia.

About Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Columbia University Irving Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, preclinical, and clinical research; medical and health sciences education; and patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Columbia University Irving Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and State and one of the largest faculty medical practices in the Northeast. Columbia University Irving Medical Center shares a campus with its hospital partner, NewYork-Presbyterian. For more information, visit cuimc.columbia.edu.