More details have become public regarding Amazon’s secret “skunk works” division, which is focused on innovative pursuits that could expand the company’s reach in healthcare technology, cancer research and medical records.
According to reports from CNBC, the company’s Grand Challenge research group has been working with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to develop machine learning tools for oncology. A Fred Hutch spokesperson told CNBC that it has several early-stage projects underway with its Seattle-area tech neighbors, including Amazon, as well as Microsoft and Tableau Software, and hopes to preview them later this year.
The team, which also works under the code names 1492 or Amazon X, now totals about 50 employees following its launch in 2014. It includes ex-FDA officials, the founders of several health startups, and the founder of Google’s robotic surgery programs, Babak Parviz, who also invented Google Glass.
One project, which Grand Challenge has been developing internally for the past three years, aims to translate and double-check unstructured data from electronic health records for possibly incorrect diagnoses or missed information. Amazon has started to shop the program, Hera, around to health insurance companies.
Via Dominique Godefroy, Lionel Reichardt / le Pharmageek