Spurred by advances in processing power, memory, storage, and an unprecedented wealth of data, computers are being asked to tackle increasingly complex learning tasks, often with astonishing success. Computers have now mastered a popular variant of poker, learned the laws of physics from experimental data, and become experts in video games – tasks which would have been deemed impossible not too long ago. In parallel, the number of companies centered on applying complex data analysis to varying industries has exploded, and it is thus unsurprising that some analytic companies are turning attention to problems in healthcare. The purpose of this review is to explore what problems in medicine might benefit from such learning approaches and use examples from the literature to introduce basic concepts in machine learning. It is important to note that seemingly large enough medical data sets and adequate learning algorithms have been available for many decades – and yet, although there are thousands of papers applying machine learning algorithms to medical data, very few have contributed meaningfully to clinical care. This lack of impact stands in stark contrast to the enormous relevance of machine learning to many other industries. Thus part of my effort will be to identify what obstacles there may be to changing the practice of medicine through statistical learning approaches, and discuss how these might be overcome.

Introduction Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is a heterogeneous clinical syndrome in need of improved phenotypic classification. We sought to evaluate whether unbiased clustering analysis using dense phenotypic data (“phenomapping”) could identify phenotypically distinct HFpEF categories. Methods and Results We prospectively studied 397 HFpEF patients and performed detailed clinical, laboratory, electrocardiographic, and echocardiographic phenotyping of the study participants. We used several statistical learning algorithms, including unbiased hierarchical cluster analysis of phenotypic data (67 continuous variables) and penalized model-based clustering to define and characterize mutually exclusive groups comprising a novel classification of HFpEF. All phenomapping analyses were performed blinded to clinical outcomes, and Cox regression was used to demonstrate the clinical validity of phenomapping. The mean age was 65±12 years, 62% were female, 39% were African-American, and comorbidities were common. Although all patients met published criteria for the diagnosis of HFpEF, phenomapping analysis classified study participants into 3 distinct groups that differed markedly in clinical characteristics, cardiac structure/function, invasive hemodynamics, and outcomes (e.g., pheno-group #3 had an increased risk of HF hospitalization [hazard ratio 4.2, 95% CI 2.0–9.1] even after adjustment for traditional risk factors [P<0.001]). The HFpEF pheno-group classification, including its ability to stratify risk, was successfully replicated in a prospective validation cohort (n=107). Conclusions Phenomapping results in novel classification of HFpEF. Statistical learning algorithms, applied to dense phenotypic data, may allow for improved classification of heterogeneous clinical syndromes, with the ultimate goal of defining therapeutically homogeneous patient subclasses.

SUMMARY In vertebrates, activation of innate immunity is an early response to injury, implicating it in the regenerative process. However, the mechanisms by which innate signals might regulate stem cell functionality are unknown. Here we demonstrate that type 2 innate immunity is required for regeneration of skeletal muscle after injury. Muscle damage results in rapid recruitment of eosinophils, which secrete IL-4 to activate the regenerative actions of muscle resident fibro/adipocyte progenitors (FAPs). In FAPs, IL-4/IL-13 signaling serves as a key switch to control their fate and functions. Activation of IL-4/IL-13 signaling promotes proliferation of FAPs to support myogenesis, while inhibiting their differentiation into adipocytes. Surprisingly, type 2 cytokine signaling is also required in FAPs, but not myeloid cells, for rapid clearance of necrotic debris, a process that is necessary for timely and complete regeneration of tissues.