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CU Boulder’s CUbit Quantum Initiative and AB Nexus Initiative recently hosted scientists, engineers and healthcare professionals discussing the emerging intersection of quantum technology and healthcare and future CU Boulder-CU Anschutz collaborations.

During a landmark virtual event exploring CU’s strengths in quantum health research and the increasing federal interest in the area, various speakers touched on the strong partnership potential between quantum science and technology leader, CU Boulder, and biomedical research leader, CU Anschutz, to leverage their respective strengths in transforming healthcare.

Massimo Ruzzene, CU Boulder vice chancellor for research and innovation, launched the program to stimulate ideas on building partnerships and how to move the joint field forward. “This event is just the beginning of a new chapter for CU in quantum science and human health,” he said.

More than 100 attendees tuned into the event, “Applications of Quantum Science and Technology in Human Health,” and met in breakout groups focused on how quantum sensing, quantum imaging and quantum computing could help advance disease detection, medical imaging and diagnostics, drug discovery and more.

Jun Ye, CU Boulder professor of physics, remarked on the “incredible potential of quantum science in advancing human health.” Whether scientists move the field forward through quantum sensing, networking or computing, he said, “It’s going to have a big impact on all walks of life.” Ye is also a fellow at JILA, a collaborative research institute between CU Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, renowned for its groundbreaking work in the quantum realm.

Ye said that CU Boulder–CU Anschutz collaborations are both practical and important. “Bringing in quantum science and technology for meaningful applications to solving real world problems in medicine will be really a great scientific and humanitarian goal,” he said. By building teams of experts across both campuses, said Ye, “We can really position ourselves as leaders in this exciting new field.” But that’s only possible by working together, he said. “Intradisciplinary partnerships are crucial and critical to success in this field.”

Tom Flaig, CU Anschutz vice chancellor for research, also applauded the focus on community-building in the quantum space. “With the long-term expertise of CU Boulder in [quantum] and the biomedical expertise of CU Anschutz, we have an opportunity to come together in quantum health in a really meaningful way –�� to have some national prominence and leadership in this area,” he said.��

Recent cross-campus collaborations have been boosted by the AB Nexus Initiative, which provides seed funding and resources to support partnerships between CU Boulder and CU Anschutz researchers, said Flaig. The program has already demonstrated how combining forces can amplify their effect and lead to innovative solutions to the most challenging health issues facing society. That power of intercampus collaboration will serve as a foundation for advancing quantum applications in biology, neurology and chemistry.

“When you bring together scientists from different fields—for example a biomedical researcher, a clinician and an engineer—it can drive discoveries in powerful and innovative ways. AB Nexus has been highly successful in fostering these new interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers from a wide spectrum of disciplines and backgrounds,” said Flaig.

This is only the beginning of a larger, more intentional effort to build a community of research in quantum and health, said Karen Regan, CU Boulder associate vice chancellor for research and innovation. “It's just such a natural place for us to continue to collaborate. We anticipate future AB Nexus funding opportunities will support emerging ‘quantum and health’ collaborations,” she said. “We recognize that this is an important, new, emerging area.”

CU Boulder, already an established leader in quantum science and technology, continues to blaze trails in research, education, commercialization and job creation, cementing it as an international quantum hub of excellence providing tangible benefits to society. “Today, the CUbit Quantum Initiative reinforces Colorado’s quantum prominence by catalyzing research on campus, expanding education and workforce opportunities and linking quantum advancements to industry,” said Scott Sternberg, executive director of CUbit. “This event is the first of many that are intended to promote collaborations in not only biosciences but also in aerospace, climate and sustainability, and national security.”

Geetha Senthil, deputy director, Office of Special Initiatives, National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, also spoke at the event, giving insight into NIH’s quantum initiatives and stressing the need for early disease detection and the potential of quantum sensing to revolutionize diagnostics. She noted that NIH is eager to fund collaborative projects, particularly those that bring quantum technologies to health applications.��������

Ye wrapped up the event encouraging attendees to keep up momentum. “Clearly we are not lacking in ideas, there’s a lot of synergies here in technology development,” he said. “CU Boulder and CU Anschutz are really sitting on gold mines of expertise, so we want to make sure that we translate that into real breakthrough opportunities in the coming years.”

To learn more about exploring synergies in quantum and health across CU Boulder and CU Anschutz, please contact Lisa Nanstad at lisa.nanstad@colorado.edu.��