1258: Could a ‘digital twin’ help you get better health care?

There’s an idea bubbling up in medicine called the “digital twin.” The concept is to take personal health data like genetics, blood test results, tissue samples, MRI scans, and family history, and create a digital model of a patient that can be used to predict how a treatment might work for them. Think personalized medicine supercharged by AI. For example, cancer researchers are working on models that would create radiation and chemotherapy treatment plans based on the specifics of a patient’s tumor. But these models aren’t ready for the clinic yet, and with so much patient data involved, privacy concerns abound. Host Flora Lichtman talks with Caroline Chung, a radiation oncologist at the forefront of digital twin research.Guest:Dr. Caroline Chung is a radiation oncologist and the co-director of the Institute for Data Science Oncology at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com.Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.