UT REAL Health AI funds 12 pilot projects that put AI into UT System hospitals and medical schools
The University of Texas Research, Engineering, and Application Laboratory for Healthcare Artificial Intelligence announced funding for 12 pilot projects. The laboratory is known as UT REAL Health AI and was launched by the UT System in 2025. The pilots were chosen from 120 systemwide submissions. The page says the awards total more than $3.6 million and that three moonshot projects each received up to $500,000. Among them is an AI clinical assistant for emergency triage and transfer decisions at seven UT hospital sites. Others are a smartphone app that listens for fetal movements, referral triage at UTMB Galveston and a warning system against wrong tooth extraction at UTHealth Houston. One project is AI no-show reduction. The page credits it with saving more than 6,500 appointments and $900,000 in revenue at UTHealth Houston, and it is set to expand to UT Health San Antonio. The page cites no measurement or audit behind those results. The page carries no announcement date.
How to take part
The UT System publishes the laboratory's page, its leadership and the list of funded pilots with each project's lead. There is no comment window on the awards. A reader with a question about a pilot contacts the institution that runs it.
Where
How this decision moved
One dated line per check, oldest first. A line that says nothing changed means somebody looked and it had not.
- 2026-10-05
Admitted on the UT System's own list of funded pilots. The awards are made, and the one result the page reports is the no-show project's saving at UTHealth Houston, stated without a cited measurement.
- 2026-10-08
The UT System's list of funded health AI pilots is unchanged, and the no-show project is still the one result it reports.
The evidence
Every fact above rests on one of these. The words are the source's own.
The University of Texas Research, Engineering, and Application Laboratory for Healthcare Artificial Intelligence (UT REAL Health AI)UT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
In 2025, the University of Texas System received legislative approval and dedicated funding to launch UT REAL Health AI, a systemwide initiative to responsibly accelerate artificial intelligence in health.UT REAL Health AI Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
today announced funding for 12 pilot projects designed to advance the use of AI in healthcare across the UT SystemUT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
Selected through a rigorous two-phase review of 120 systemwide submissionsUT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
Competitive awards totaling more than $3.6 million support AI innovation in emergency care, patient safety, clinical efficiency, and medical education across eleven UT institutions.UT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
Three moonshot projects each received up to $500,000 to pursue transformative clinical AI.UT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
deploys "Leah," an AI clinical assistant trained on more than 400,000 trauma cases, across seven UT hospital sites to optimize emergency triage and transfer decisionsUT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
is a smartphone app that uses AI-powered acoustic analysis to detect fetal movements with 88% accuracyUT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
At UTMB Galveston, Dr. Salim Hayek is deploying AI Referral Triage to Reduce Low-Value Care and Improve Patient AccessUT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
Early Warning System to Predict Wrong-Tooth Extraction (WTE) in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery (Predict-WTE) led by Dr. Sayali Tungare at UTHealth HoustonUT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
led by Dr. Andrea Cooley at UT Tyler, uses artificial intelligence to expand access to retinal screening and early disease detecting at scaleUT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
that has already saved more than 6,500 appointments and $900,000 in revenue at UTHealth HoustonUT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
The project will now expand to UT Health San Antonio, where it is projected to recover 15,000UT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
2026 UT REAL Health AI Symposium - October 7-8, Austin, TXUT REAL Health AI Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
involve institutions including UTHealth Houston, UT Southwestern, UT Austin, UT San Antonio, UTMB Galveston, MD Anderson Cancer Center, UT Rio Grande Valley, and UT TylerUT REAL Health AI, Pilot Program Phase I Primary source, official · utsystem.edu
Questions about this decision
Answered from the record itself. Every answer is assembled from stored fields, so an answer the record has no basis for is left out rather than guessed.
What is this decision?
The University of Texas Research, Engineering, and Application Laboratory for Healthcare Artificial Intelligence announced funding for 12 pilot projects. The laboratory is known as UT REAL Health AI and was launched by the UT System in 2025. The pilots were chosen from 120 systemwide submissions. The page says the awards total more than $3.6 million and that three moonshot projects each received up to $500,000. Among them is an AI clinical assistant for emergency triage and transfer decisions at seven UT hospital sites. Others are a smartphone app that listens for fetal movements, referral triage at UTMB Galveston and a warning system against wrong tooth extraction at UTHealth Houston. One project is AI no-show reduction. The page credits it with saving more than 6,500 appointments and $900,000 in revenue at UTHealth Houston, and it is set to expand to UT Health San Antonio. The page cites no measurement or audit behind those results. The page carries no announcement date.
Who decides it?
The University of Texas System decides. The record names the deciding body for every entry it carries.
Can the public take part?
The UT System publishes the laboratory's page, its leadership and the list of funded pilots with each project's lead. There is no comment window on the awards. A reader with a question about a pilot contacts the institution that runs it. No dated public window is on the record. The deciding body is named and reachable.
Where in Texas does it apply?
It covers Bexar, Dallas, Galveston, Harris Counties and three more.
Has it been decided?
It has been decided. The dates on the item page carry when.
What kind of decision is it?
It is filed under health and education.
What sources back it?
Two sources back it. Two of them are primary.
When was it last checked?
Every fact on it was last verified against its source on October 8th, 2026.
Cite this
Texas AI Docket, UT REAL Health AI funds 12 pilot projects that put AI into UT System hospitals and medical schools. Tracked since October 5th, 2026. Last verified October 8th, 2026. https://texasaidocket.com/item/tx-2026-0201/. Reuse permitted under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. The same entry is in the docket JSON as item tx-2026-0201.
Beat
Filed under Health and education, with every other decision on that beat.