AI Steps Up to Close Healthcare Gaps in Minority Communities

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Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Artificial intelligence continues to prove its value across medicine, but one of the biggest opportunities lies in improving health equity. As new algorithms evolve to recognize cultural, genetic, and environmental differences, the potential to close long-standing gaps in preventive care is becoming reality, and one company just landed major U.S. backing to make it happen.

Shares of Rocket Doctor AI Inc. (CSE: AIDR) (OTCQB: AIRDF) are moving higher Wednesday after the company announced that its U.S. subsidiary, Treatment.com Inc., in partnership with Rush River Research, has been awarded a US$2 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The two-year award will fund the development of a culturally sensitive, AI-powered family medical history tool designed to improve early diagnosis and preventive care, particularly among underserved populations.

The project builds on earlier NIH-funded research, advancing Treatment’s proprietary Global Library of Medicine (GLM) platform, an AI-driven clinical decision support system built with physician input from around the world. With over US$500,000 of the grant earmarked for integration and commercialization, the initiative will combine advanced AI with thoughtful design and community input to create medical technology that’s both accurate and accessible.

“This project shows how thoughtful design, cultural awareness, community insight, and collaboration can combine with AI innovation to create medical technologies that are more effective and accessible for everyone,” said Julie Lundstrom, Co-founder of Rush River Research.

The grant targets a critical issue: disparities in chronic disease outcomes among African Americans, who face higher mortality rates from heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes, all conditions heavily influenced by family medical history. Traditional AI models often overlook cultural and social factors that affect care, a gap Rocket Doctor AI aims to close by embedding inclusivity directly into its algorithms.

According to Dr. Kevin Peterson, Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Treatment, “Conventional AI models can overlook the realities of historical, genetic, and cultural differences. This important work helps bridge that gap, advancing our understanding of how health is shaped by the relationships, families, and communities where people live.”

Rocket Doctor AI’s broader mission is to make healthcare more scalable, equitable, and patient-centered, supporting physicians through its virtual-care platform while expanding access for rural and underserved populations. Having powered more than 700,000 patient visits, the company continues to build on its physician-developed AI tools to improve consistency, efficiency, and real-world outcomes.

Shares of Canadian-listed AIDR are up 5.71% to $0.74, while U.S.-listed AIRDF gained 5.98% to $0.54 in Wednesday morning trading.

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