Rounds, Heinrich Introduce Legislation to Leverage Artificial Intelligence for Pandemic Preparedness and Response

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), co-chairs of the Senate Artificial Intelligence (AI) Caucus, today introduced legislation to leverage AI for national pandemic preparedness and response through a program called MedShield. The legislation would implement a recommendation of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. 

MedShield would be the United States’ “shield” to proactively protect the nation against future pandemics and avoid the preparedness issues that plagued the nation at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. To that end, MedShield would foster collaboration between the public and private sectors as well as with global allies and partners. The program would leverage AI to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of U.S. pandemic prevention and response across five key areas:

• Pathogen detection and surveillance
• Vaccine development
• Therapeutic development
• Modeling for pathogen tracking and vaccine distribution
• Rapid manufacturing of vaccines and therapeutics.

“Given the millions of deaths and trillions of dollars in economic costs resulting from COVID-19, we need to make strategic investments in pandemic prevention and preparedness. I believe AI should play a key role in those efforts” said Rounds. “The MedShield program would utilize AI to help the U.S. identify pathogens that pose pandemic threats and work quickly to develop necessary protections. I’m pleased to be introducing this legislation with Senator Heinrich, my co-chair of the Senate AI Caucus, to leverage AI to save lives.”

“AI holds amazing potential to supercharge major scientific and medical advances – including our ability to anticipate and address the next public health crisis,” said Heinrich, Founder and Co-Chair of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus. “By leveraging AI, our Medshield Act gives us a significant advantage in preparing for the emergence of new biological threats to prevent the next pandemic.”   

"I strongly support and applaud Senators Rounds’ and Heinrich’s leadership in introducing legislation to create the MedShield program. This critical program is a key recommendation from the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, recognizing the transformative role AI can play in pandemic preparedness,” said Ylli Bajraktari, the former Executive Director of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. “The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for rapid innovation in detecting threats and accelerating vaccine and therapeutic development with AI. MedShield will bring together the power of AI and human ingenuity, significantly enhancing our ability to respond to future biological threats with speed and precision. This legislation is a crucial step toward creating an integrated AI-enabled system that will safeguard public health and our national security."

“I am excited to see the MedShield program move forward,” said José-Marie Griffiths, President of Dakota State University. “When we embrace the full potential of artificial intelligence to address complex problems such as pandemics, we can find new and innovative solutions for serious issues. These technologies allow us to open the door to possible approaches which will not only solve problems, but prevent them.”

“As we identify needs in our communities and develop solutions, a key focus for the University of South Dakota and our state is ‘AI for good,’” said Sheila K. Gestring, President of the University of South Dakota. “AI plays a powerful role in health care and community health, as it helps us access accurate and reliable information, make predictions based on data, and support informed decision-making. Through the smart and effective use of AI, we have the opportunity to improve human lives and develop the tools we need to face the challenges of the future. I applaud Senator Rounds for his continued focus on supporting efforts to leverage AI for good.”

“We applaud this initiative to leverage AI for creating an integrated system that will identify threats and speed response times during a pandemic,” said Dr. Lance Roberts, Interim President at the South Dakota School of Mines. “Data is being created at an exponential rate and the use of AI is a necessity to process this information so critical decisions can be made in a timely manner.”

“The 'MedShield Act of 2024' presents an opportunity to leverage cutting-edge AI technologies that could support the efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness of our healthcare response infrastructure,” said Dr. Shanna O’Connor, Department Head of Pharmacy at South Dakota State University. “As someone who has firsthand experience in navigating the challenges of public health crises, I believe the integration of AI-supported tools in both therapeutic development and deployment may significantly strengthen our preparedness for future health emergencies.”

The legislation includes:

• Findings and a Sense of Congress addressing the nation’s need to be better prepared for a pandemic, noting the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) recommendation and the need to avoid an initiative such as Operation Warp Speed for the next pandemic.
• Requirement for the United States Department of Health and Human Services to operationalize AI to implement the NSCAI recommendation.
• Authorization of funding for each fiscal year during FY 2025 – 2029.

Click HERE for full bill text.

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