Generating, translating, and disseminating research on Intelligence-Technology in primary care—comprehensive, accessible, relationship-centered, and ethically accountable, across all ages, backgrounds, and conditions. |
Vision
Technology that strengthens the exam room — not one that replaces it
A future in which Intelligence-Technology strengthens, rather than supplants, the relationship between primary care physicians and the patients, families, and communities they serve.
The name - every letter is a founding principle:
P Primary Care Anchored in Family Medicine, the front-line home for people across all ages. | I Intelligence- Technology Machine learning, decision support, and data systems—also known as AI or Super Intelligence. | T Translational Research built with clinicians and patients together, not just for them | T Transformation Measurable change in how care is delivered. |
C Comprehensive The full scope of a person’s health—conditions, life stages, and biopsychosocial context. | A Accessible A seat at the table: patients help shape how Intelligence-technology is designed and deployed. | R Relationship-Centered The physician-patient bond and PITTCARE’s bond with the public we tend to each year. | E Ethical WHO-aligned autonomy, transparency, accountability, and equity as standing practice.
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Flagship program
Voice of the People Study
An annual, structured interview study of patients, families, and physicians—PITTCARE's standing commitment to listen before acting. Published as an open access report each year and shared though clinical, academic, and community channels.
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ANNUAL | 3 | OPEN
Structured Interview cycle | Team leads: Bridges - Shisler - Bear | Access publication model
Core focus areas
Research that serves people first
Applying Intelligence-Technology at the point of care for diagnosis, prevention, and chronic disease—augmenting judgement, not replacing it. |
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Bringing mental health, social context, and patient values into how algorithms recommend. Builds on the department’s own 4 Pillars™ program.
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 Ethics of Intelligence-Technology
WHO-aligned oversight of how Intelligence-Technology is designed and deployed. The Voice of the People Study is this pillar’s flagship program. |
Ethics of Intelligence-Technology
Ethical review as a standing practice
Grounded in the WHO's global guidance on the ethics and governance of artificial intelligence for health—six principles carried into every project and applied consistently across Intelligence-Technology, not just at launch.
Autonomy Patients and clinicians keep control over medical decisions. | Well-being & Safety Tools meet regulatory standards; avoidable harm is prevented. | Transparency How a tool reasons is explainable to the people who rely on it. |
Accountability Responsibility for outcomes rests with named people. | Equity Performance is monitored for bias across populations. | Sustainability Systems stay responsive as evidence and technology evolve. |
This pillar is grounded in a formal partnership with Pitt's Institute for Bioethics, led by inaugural director, Douglas B. White, MD, MAS, and is made visible each year through the Voice of the People Study above.
Key partners
Built on active relationships, not aspirational ones
 Dept. of Biomedical Informatics Shyam Visweswaran, MD, PhD – CCAI Director
Founding partnership since 2022; also directs the Center for Clinical Artificial Intelligence (CCAI), which develops and validates AI-powered decision support.
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|  CPACE Hooman Rashidi, MD – Executive Director
Builds and validates AI across pathology and lab medicine. Complementary to PITTCARE, which validates only in the primary care setting. |
|  Institute for Bioethics Douglas B. White, MD, MAS – Director
Formal bioethics partner grounding PITTCARE’s Ethics pillar in research, education, and clinical practices. |