Mark Iscoe, MD, MHS, has received a Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI) Scholar Award to research adverse drug reactions (ADRs) using large language models and artificial intelligence (AI). Iscoe is assistant professor of emergency medicine and of biomedical informatics and data science at Yale School of Medicine.
Defined as harmful and unintended responses to medications, ADRs often lead to emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations among older adults. ADRs typically present in nonspecific ways, such as dizziness, falls and altered mental status, which means the role of medications can be overlooked by emergency physicians—placing patients at risk of preventable harm. Research in this area has been limited, according to Iscoe, because many clinicians report suspected ADRs through unstructured clinical notes rather than structured data and diagnostic codes.
Iscoe’s project, titled “Identifying Adverse Drug Reactions Among Older Adult Emergency Department Patients with Undifferentiated Presentations Using Large Language Models: A Stakeholder-Engaged Project,” aims to address this issue. The study team will use AI methods, such as natural language processing and large language models, to perform large-scale analyses of previously inaccessible clinical notes.
“[The project will] fill gaps in our current knowledge of the scope and nature of adverse drug reactions in older adult ED patients with undifferentiated presentations—as well as opportunities and barriers to addressing them,” said Iscoe. “We hope this project will pave the way for a future [clinical decision support] intervention that will improve diagnostic safety, facilitate appropriate deprescribing, and improve patient-centered outcomes.”
Iscoe’s collaborators include Ula Hwang, MD, MPH, adjunct professor of emergency medicine, Andrew Taylor, MD, MHS, associate professor of emergency medicine and of biomedical informatics and data science, Terri Fried, MD, Humana Foundation Professor of Medicine (Geriatrics), and Arjun Venkatesh, MD, MBA, MHS, professor and chair of emergency medicine.
The YCCI Scholar Award is awarded to junior faculty members who are strongly committed to research careers focused on improving human health.
The award offers salary support in addition to research funding of $25,000 for two years.