Surgical Innovation Center

The Harvey and Marcia Schiller Surgical Innovation Center is a dedicated center to improve patient outcomes and healthcare efficiencies through surgical innovation.

Human Centered Design

Harvey and Marcia Schiller Surgical Innovation Center

Our vision in the Department of Surgery is to create a dedicated center for surgical innovation that aims to improve patient outcomes and healthcare efficiencies. That vision came to fruition thanks to a generous philanthropic gift from Brigadier General Harvey W. Schiller, USAF Ret., Ph.D., and his wife, Marcia, and the leadership of cardiothoracic surgeon Arman Kilic, M.D., an internationally recognized expert on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

Clinically, Kilic serves MUSC Health as Surgical Director of Heart Transplant and Heart Failure, and leads the Cardiogenic Shock Team.

Now, in his new role, Kilic will direct the Harvey and Marcia Schiller Surgical Innovation Center. The center will serve as an incubator, centralizing and facilitating collaboration between clinical experts, AI/ML experts, software engineers, clinical trialists, and innovation teams. Kilic is well equipped to lead the charge. He has 20 years of experience in risk modeling, advanced analytics, and using large multi-center data registries.

He serves on the national Society of Thoracic Surgeons AI/ML Task Force, and has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and Thoracic Surgery Foundation for his work on AI in cardiac surgery.

This centralized center will streamline the process of advancing data science and translate these advancements to academic funding and dissemination and commercial products that can have immediate impact on patientcare and healthcare delivery. It will include three pillars: surgical AI, investigator-initiated clinical trials, and human-centered design. Having these pillars in one centralized location and in close physical proximity will allow for internal collaboration, streamlining of projects, and shared resources and expertise.

A major focus of the center will be in harnessing the massive quantities of healthcare data to develop predictive models that can be used for individualized patient care and for supporting clinical decision-making.

The center will also focus on developing algorithms that can accurately and in an automated fashion interpret imaging studies, and using AI/ML and natural language processing to accurately and rapidly extract data from the electronic health record.

The impact will be to facilitate the creation of both personalized treatment plans and usable and innovative products that make healthcare better and more efficient. It will transform how surgery is performed, improve clinical care, and decrease costs for patients not only in South Carolina but across the United States.