January 7, 2021

Five disruptive scientific advancements from Mass General Brigham have been awarded Innovation Discovery Grants (IDG) in the 2020 round of awards, as the highly competitive IDG program exceeds $3.5 million in grants since inception. Each of the five potential patient health and healthcare delivery break-throughs for 2020 will receive $100,000 toward ongoing development and future commercialization, based on their potential to improve health outcomes, meet articulated milestones, and achieve follow-on investment support as assessed by outside industry experts. 

A Clinically Applicable AI Toolbox for Dystonia Diagnosis — Kristina Simonyan, MD, PhD, Massachusetts Eye and Ear: A significant challenge in the clinical management of dystonia (abnormal muscle tone or spasm) is the absence of an objective diagnostic test, which in turn delays treatment and decreases the patient’s quality of life. Early and accurate diagnosis can enable timely and personalized therapy. The focus is on a machine-learning platform for the automatic diagnosis of dystonia and the assessment of treatment outcomes based on 3D convolutional neural networks and raw brain MRIs. The availability of automated biomarkers of dystonia will significantly advance its clinical management by reducing the rate and costs associated with incorrect or delayed diagnosis while accelerating the timely delivery of the most beneficial treatment.