Sutter Health Showcases Groundbreaking Research at Symposium, Advancing Clinical Innovations to Deliver Real-World Solutions
NORTHERN CALIF., Aug. 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nearly 500 physicians, researchers, academic collaborators, medical students, residents, fellows and clinical leaders from across Sutter Health’s integrated system are gathering in Sacramento today for the system’s third annual Research Symposium to learn about the cutting-edge research and clinical trials that are enhancing patient care across Northern California and beyond.
“This symposium reflects Sutter’s deep commitment to integrating research and innovation to transform care and drive enhanced health outcomes for all,” said Warner Thomas, president and CEO of Sutter Health. “As a not-for-profit health system with top community-based medical education training programs, we invest in research to fuel pioneering studies, digital innovation and clinical trials that bring tomorrow’s breakthroughs to today’s patient care.”
The event features scientific presentations, keynote speakers and panel discussions, highlighting how Sutter’s research enterprise is expanding access to clinical trials, training future medical leaders, and leveraging advanced analytics and AI solutions to evaluate and shape the future of clinical care.
“Our vision is to make Sutter a national leader in research that transforms patient care — through top enrollment in ground-breaking clinical trials, leveraging advanced analytics to evaluate and improve care for our 3.5 million patients, and through the translation of cutting-edge discovery science directly to the bedside,” said Dr. Matthew Solomon, Sutter Health’s chief scientific officer. “We’re harnessing our scale, data and AI tools to generate insights that directly improve the health of our patients and communities to deliver care that is smarter, faster and more personalized — so every patient benefits from the best of what modern science can offer.”
The day will include scientific presentations by Sutter researchers that leverage AI tools such as natural language processing to improve stroke care, that predict hospitalization in older adults and that improve cardiovascular risk assessment for diverse populations, as well as poster presentations on recent research and trials. The keynote talk will be by Dr. Neil Weissman, president of MedStar Health Research Institute, on the role of research in healthcare delivery systems.
Graduate Physicians Help Drive Research
In recent years, Sutter has expanded its residency and fellowship programs across Northern California, integrating these physician graduate medical education programs with Sutter’s research initiatives to drive innovation and advance healthcare for the communities it serves.
“Few community-based health systems conduct their own research, run clinical trials that inform care delivered across specialty service lines, and train the next generation of leading physicians through residency and fellowship programs,” said Leon Clark, vice president and chief academic affairs officer at Sutter Health. “That combination is powerful. We’re building a next-generation workforce that can lead both in the lab and at the bedside.”
Recent Research Advancements at Sutter
Backed by a 100-year track record of pioneering research, Sutter conducts hundreds of clinical trials and digital studies each year — most designed and led in-house — to better understand, detect, treat and prevent disease. Recent research achievements include:
- Improved cardiovascular outcomes: Sutter researchers validated the American Heart Association’s PREVENT risk tool to ensure accurate heart disease and heart failure risk prediction across our broad, real-world and diverse community-based population.
- Alzheimer’s discovery: Sutter is helping develop a first-of-its-kind “brain map” study to explore genes and blood biomarkers that may aid in earlier diagnosis and personalized treatments.
- Stroke metrics via AI: In Sutter’s Telestroke program, researchers used artificial intelligence to automate quality metric tracking, saving clinicians time while enhancing systemwide monitoring and stroke care scalability.
- Melanoma and precision medicine: A genetics-based melanoma trial helped match cancer patients with the most effective treatment based on their tumor’s molecular makeup.
- Brain cancer research: Sutter scientists are studying treatment options for both pediatric and adult brain cancers in collaboration with Sutter’s clinical teams.
Charting New Paths in Healthcare AI
One of the highlights of the event will be a panel discussion on artificial intelligence in healthcare, moderated by Dr. Solomon, with leaders from Sutter’s clinical innovation, digital health and AI teams. Sutter Health has emerged as a national leader in the safe and strategic integration of AI into care delivery. Some of the recent initiatives include:
- Real-time AI alerts: Through a partnership with Aidoc, Sutter is piloting a new AI-driven system to detect strokes and other life-threatening conditions faster in emergency departments.
- Reducing clinician burnout: Sutter's use of Abridge, an ambient AI documentation tool tested and refined by research at Sutter, improved physician well-being by reducing documentation time and easing mental workload.
- AI-powered imaging: In collaboration with GE Healthcare, Sutter is accelerating the rollout of AI-enhanced imaging to detect cancers and heart and vascular issues earlier.
- AI in primary care: A Sutter pilot used AI-assisted cameras to screen for diabetic retinopathy in primary care visits — offering patients faster, dilation-free eye exams in under a minute.
For more about research and clinical trials at Sutter, and how you can participate, go to www.sutterhealth.org/research.
About Sutter Health
Sutter Health is a not-for-profit healthcare system dedicated to providing comprehensive care throughout California. Committed to advancing innovative patient care, healthy outcomes and community partnerships, Sutter Health is pursuing a bold new plan to reach more people and make excellent healthcare more connected and accessible. Sutter currently serves more than 3.5 million patients, thanks to our dedicated team of more than 57,000 employees and clinicians, and 12,000+ affiliated physicians, with a unified focus on expanding care to serve more patients.
Sutter delivers exceptional and affordable care through its hospitals, medical groups, ambulatory surgery centers, urgent care clinics, telehealth, home health and hospice services. Dedicated to transforming healthcare, at Sutter Health, getting better never stops.
Learn more about how Sutter Health is transforming healthcare at sutterhealth.org and vitals.sutterhealth.org.
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Angie Sheets Sutter Health 916-494-9547 angeline.sheets@sutterhealth.org
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