LSU Health New Orleans Awarded $1.1 Million Grant from AMA to Advance Precision Medical Education

January 16, 2026

LSU Health New Orleans has been selected as one of 11 teams to receive funding from the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Transforming Lifelong Learning Through Precision Education Grant Program, a $12 million investment by the AMA to advance physician training through personalized learning and advanced technology. LSU Health New Orleans will receive $1.1 million over four years to fund its project, “Compassion in Motion.”  

Chosen from nearly 200 applicants, LSU Health New Orleans distinguished itself as an innovator and leader in precision education, advancing efforts to strengthen the physician workforce and support high-quality patient care. Precision education models use data and technology, including augmented intelligence (AI), to tailor learning to each learner’s needs. These models help medical students and physicians focus on developing the skills and competencies that matter most in diagnosing, communicating, and caring for patients. 

LSU Health New Orleans’ project, Compassion in Motion, addresses a critical gap in medical education: the lack of consistent, low-stakes opportunities for physicians to deliberately practice complex communication skills once they enter clinical training. While empathy, trust-building, and trauma-informed communication are widely recognized as essential to patient care, learners often have limited time and few safe environments to rehearse these skills before high-stakes patient encounters. 

Compassion in Motion is a mobile, AI-enabled communication coaching and simulation platform that delivers just-in-time, personalized practice for medical learners across the clinical continuum. Using augmented intelligence, the platform adapts to individual learners’ needs, allowing them to rehearse difficult conversations, reflect on real encounters, and receive tailored feedback through realistic virtual patient interactions. The project emphasizes equity, cultural humility, and trauma-informed care, ensuring that communication training reflects the diverse realities of patients and communities. 

Over the four-year grant period, the initiative will support fourth-year medical students, resident physicians, and practicing clinicians, with plans to expand to continuing medical education. Long-term goals include measurable improvements in communication performance, learner confidence, patient trust, and system-level readiness for compassionate, equitable care. 

The project is led by LSU Health New Orleans faculty Dr. Peter DeBlieux (Principal Investigator) and Dr. Rachel Fiore along with a team of faculty and staff.  The LSU Health team is working in collaboration with the University of New Orleans and industry partner Videra Health, bringing together clinical, educational, and technical expertise. Participation in the AMA’s precision education consortium will allow LSU Health New Orleans to refine the platform alongside national leaders, share lessons learned, and contribute to best practices for responsible, learner-centered AI in medical education. 

“This project addresses a critical gap in medical education by giving learners safe, low-stakes opportunities to practice the complex communication skills that build trust and improve patient care,” shared LSU Health School of Medicine Dean, Dr. Richard DiCarlo. “LSU Health New Orleans is proud to be on the forefront of preparing physicians to care for patients with empathy and confidence by pairing human-centered training with responsible AI.” 

“Technology and AI have the potential to reshape how physicians learn, practice, and care for their patients, and these grants will help bring that potential to life,” said AMA CEO John Whyte, MD, MPH. “As new tools emerge, we have an opportunity to build learning environments that are more engaging, more adaptable, and better aligned with the realities of practicing medicine. Our goal is to ensure that innovation strengthens the physician experience and creates a future where every physician is fully equipped to meet the needs of patients.” 

The AMA’s investment across 11 team projects will expand access to cutting-edge technology and systems that make learning more efficient, effective, and focused on optimal patient care. The Transforming Lifelong Learning Through Precision Education Grant Program was developed with national experts in augmented intelligence, assessment, and medical education and follows more than a decade of AMA leadership through its ChangeMedEd® Initiative, which has invested nearly $50 million in reimagining medical education. 

Learn more about the new precision education grant program. 

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About LSU Health New Orleans  
LSU Health New Orleans educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's health sciences university leader, LSU Health New Orleans includes a School of Medicine with campuses in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Graduate Studies. LSU Health New Orleans faculty take care of patients in hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research, the LSU Health New Orleans research enterprise generates jobs and enormous annual economic impact. LSU Health New Orleans faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment   and cure disease.