WCPO: UC-backed startup aims to use AI to detect heart disease
Genexia sees data available through mammograms as key to early detection
A University of Cincinnati-backed startup is developing explainable artificial intelligence to better diagnose coronary artery disease risk in women, WCPO reported.
Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States and worldwide. In the U.S. alone, 500,000 women die annually as a result of heart disease.
Genexia, founded by Kelly Cohen, Dino Martis and Anoop Sathyan, aims to use explainable AI in mammograms for early detection of coronary artery disease to significantly reduce deaths and quality of life degradation for women.
“Today, 500,000 women die of heart attacks,” Martis, Genexia’s CEO, said. “I would love to see in the future, we cut that number in half because of innovations such as ours. That would make the world a better place to live in.”
Genexia has received a lot of investor interest and once funding has been secured, a clinical trial will enroll 2,000 women, collecting data that will be used to train explainable AI models to identify breast density and diagnose coronary artery disease risk through information found in mammograms.
“[Women] do not show the symptoms that men do,” said Cohen, Genexia chairman of the board, director of AI Bio Lab at Digital Futures and the Brian H. Rowe Endowed Chair in aerospace engineering at UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. “But they do have mammograms more often than men. Now we have the opportunity because that evidence is there.”
Featured image at top: A woman receives a mammogram. Photo/Rhoda Baer, National Cancer Institute via Unsplash
Innovation Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
How can Cincinnati provide more affordable housing? This new lab aims to find out
October 16, 2026
The University of Cincinnati Real Estate Center helped launch a new regional research and development initiative designed to identify, test and scale solutions to the region’s housing challenges called the Housing Innovation Lab. The project is built around a simple idea: What if communities approached housing challenges the way leading companies approach innovation?
Environmental engineer researching methods to monitor river quality
October 16, 2026
Pradeep Ramtel has been conducting research on river water since he was an undergraduate student in Nepal. He is currently a PhD student at the University of Cincinnati and is studying under Associate Professor Dongmei Feng. His research uses collected data and machine learning to better assess risks to river water quality and prepare for problems before they arise. Recently, he was named Graduate Student Engineer of the Month by UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science.
Collaboration over consultation
October 16, 2026
New University of Cincinnati research published in the journal Health Expectations found stroke survivors participating in rehab research desire an approach that prioritizes shared decision-making, peer relationships and a focus on what they can accomplish rather than their deficits.