AI HEALS: better medical interpreting for patients who speak limited English
Pilot Project 1: AI HEALS (Health Advances through Language Solutions)
This project compares three ways of providing remote medical interpreting—phone consecutive human interpreting, UN-style simultaneous human interpreting, and AI-powered simultaneous interpreting—for cancer clinic encounters with patients who speak English less than "very well" to determine which has fewer important errors and is faster.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Sloan-Kettering Inst Can Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11194513 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From your point of view, the team will write 50 realistic oncology visit scripts and translate the patient lines into multiple languages. Actors will play patients who speak those languages while clinicians speak English to recreate real clinic conversations. The researchers will compare three interpreting approaches: remote consecutive human interpreting, remote simultaneous human interpreting (UN-style), and AI simultaneous interpreting. They will measure clinically significant interpreting errors and how long each method takes to judge accuracy and efficiency.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are people receiving cancer care who speak English less than "very well" and want better language support during appointments.
Not a fit: Patients who are fluent in English or whose visits depend mainly on hands-on physical exams rather than conversation are unlikely to benefit directly from these interpreting comparisons.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to more accurate, faster, and more affordable interpreting during cancer care, reducing misunderstandings and improving outcomes for patients with limited English.
How similar studies have performed: Human simultaneous interpreting has some supportive evidence for improving communication, while AI simultaneous interpreting is a newer approach that remains largely unproven.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Sloan-Kettering Inst Can Research — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Gany, Francesca M — Sloan-Kettering Inst Can Research
- Study coordinator: Gany, Francesca M
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.