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

Arman Kilic MDThe Harvey and Marcia Schiller Surgical Innovation Center at the Medical University of South Carolina is a dedicated center for surgical innovation that aims to improve patient outcomes and healthcare efficiencies. Arman Kilic, M.D., Director of the Harvey and Marcia Schiller Surgical Innovation Center, is an internationally recognized expert on AI / ML. He has more than 20 years of experience in risk modeling, advanced analytics, and using large multi-center data registries. Meet the Director

The center includes three pillars:

Having these pillars in one centralized location and in close physical proximity allows for internal collaboration, streamlining of projects, and shared resources and expertise. Our goal is to improve patient care by developing AI predictive models and conduct outcomes research to support clinical decision-making.

The center has achieved several milestones: There has been rapid and exponential interest from all levels of medicine and data science to join the center.

This year, the Department of Surgery held a Surgical Innovation Awards Competition. Four research teams were each awarded $25000 through the utilization of the expertise and computing services provided in the AI pillar of the Surgical Innovation Center.

There are over 30 individuals with diverse backgrounds and skill sets solely in the surgical AI pillar, and more than 20 people in the clinical trials and human-centered design pillars.

Our vision is for the center to serve as an incubator, centralizing and facilitating collaboration between clinical experts, Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) experts, software engineers, clinical trialists, and innovation teams. This centralized center streamlines the process of advancing data science and translating these advancements to academic funding and the dissemination of commercial products that can immediately impact patient care and healthcare delivery.

A major focus of the center is 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. We will also focus on developing algorithms that can accurately and in an automated fashion interpret imaging studies and use 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 in South Carolina and across the United States.


Surgical Innovation Center Progress Report

The center is made possible through a generous gift from sports executive and retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Harvey Schiller and his wife, Marcia, who have committed to donating $1 million to establish the Harvey and Marcia Schiller Surgical Innovation Center.