Buell is passionate about how technological advancements, such as A.I., will impact the future of health care. He hopes Chicago Booth, whose research he compared to industry leaders such as Mayo Clinic, will contribute to a new world of medicine.
“Medicine has evolved in history in a linear fashion, incrementally—whether it's a new drug or a new way to perform an incision for surgery. By taking a preventative approach to disease, A.I. can help prevent the need for those drugs or incisions,” Buell said. “With my gift, I hope to support Chicago Booth in altering the way medicine is thought about, the research behind medicine, and, of course, the way it’s taught.”
Co-directed by Dan Adelman, Charles I. Clough, Jr. Professor of Operations Management, and Matthew Notowidigdo, professor of economics, and founded in 2020, Chicago Booth’s Healthcare Initiative is the school’s research and learning center dedicated to integrating business and medical points of view on the complex challenges facing the healthcare sector. Through collaboration between faculty members, policymakers, industry leaders, alumni, and current students, the Healthcare Initiative focuses on analytical and humanistic research and courses in order to make a positive impact on the healthcare industry.
“The Healthcare Initiative at Chicago Booth serves as a center of gravity for the diverse disciplines that engage in healthcare research at Booth and facilitates collaboration with partners across the university. It brings analytical and humanistic approaches to bear to make a positive impact on the healthcare industry,” Adelman and Notowidigdo said. “We are grateful that Dick Buell has chosen to support the Healthcare Initiative’s research efforts and interdisciplinary collaboration between faculty members, policymakers, alumni, and students.”