L.A. Pierce College Becomes First U.S. Community College to Launch AI-Powered Biomedical Research Program

Students at Los Angeles Pierce College took a historic step last Friday as they convened their first research team meeting for the newly launched L.A. Pierce AI Campus, an initiative that officially makes Pierce the first community college in the United States to launch an AI-powered biomedical research program through a groundbreaking partnership with National AI Campus.

This transformative new program gives undergraduates access to advanced machine learning tools and real-world medical datasets—an opportunity previously reserved for graduate-level students—marking a new era of equity-driven innovation in higher education.

“Our partnership with National AI Campus is building pipelines of opportunity for students who have historically been excluded from cutting-edge research,” said Pierce College President Aracely Aguiar. “L.A. Pierce AI Campus represents our unwavering commitment to equity, innovation, and student access to high-impact learning experiences.”

Two interdisciplinary student teams are working on real-world biomedical challenges this fall under the guidance of faculty coaches, co-coaches, and STEM and health science mentors.

Fall Research Projects:

• Breast Cancer Prognosis: Predicting Survival with AI
  Using anonymized national cancer registry data, students are training machine learning models to estimate survival outcomes and predict key clinical events like recurrence or mortality.

• Genomic Pattern Discovery in Simulated Datasets
  This project tasks students with uncovering hidden disease predictors in synthetic genetic data, using AI to identify additive and interactive effects.

“Launching a program of this caliber required cross-disciplinary collaboration, and we are proud of the faculty who stepped up to mentor, innovate, and lead,” said Donna-Mae Villanueva, Dean of Academic Affairs for Math and Science. “This is a transformative opportunity for our students to contribute to the future of AI in healthcare—and they’re rising to the challenge.”

The pilot was co-developed with Dennis Hazelett, Associate Director of Cedars AI Campus and Assistant Professor of Computational Biomedicine at Cedars-Sinai, who continues to support Pierce faculty through the program’s rollout.

This milestone exemplifies Pierce College’s leadership in aligning innovation with its mission to engage, enrich, and empower students.