Adler Archer Laboratory · Johns Hopkins University · CBID

Adler Archer Laboratory

Applied social determinants of health (SDOH) innovation at Johns Hopkins

Designing, building, and field-testing community health innovations with the people closest to the problem, for an era shaped by artificial intelligence and superintelligence.

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Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design (CBID) · Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Whiting School of Engineering

The Adler Archer Laboratory, directed by Dr. Adler Archer, is embedded at Johns Hopkins CBID.

We advance applied social determinants of health (SDOH) innovation, working on the conditions outside the clinic that shape health, including economic stability, housing, neighborhood conditions, caregiving, and access to care.

As artificial intelligence and superintelligence reshape how health systems, governments, and communities make decisions, we design and field-test SDOH innovations with Baltimore communities, veteran-led teams, and international partners, and we build them to last beyond the pilot.

Our community partner, the Adloris Foundation, carries many of these innovations forward as programs.

Lab team Current fellows The Archer Dispatch

“Our best work happens when the people who live the problem stay in the lead, and we bring design, evidence, and partnerships to back them up.”

By the numbers

  • 10+ Years of programs & convenings at Hopkins
  • 3 Signature pathways: Scholars, SPEAR, Nexus Harbor
  • 2016 Archer Lab timeline begins

What we do

Baltimore Inner Harbor waterfront

Research · Bmore Collab

Dr Lawrence Brown on Lending

A new report series documents how small business lending in Baltimore's Black Butterfly and White L neighborhoods still reflects the legacy of 1930s redlining maps. Dr Lawrence Brown published the historical foundation for the Bmore Collab research, covered by WBAL-TV 11 News.

Story details → Download the report →

Suntae Kim & Yolanda Christophe

Black Butterfly Access to Capital

Suntae Kim and Yolanda Christophe authored the final Bmore Collab report on why funding costs more for entrepreneurs in Baltimore's struggling neighborhoods - and how routine lending practices leave Black Butterfly business owners piecing together capital through high-cost alternatives. Featured by Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Story details → Download the report →
Baltimore skyline and neighborhoods
Team discussion in a professional setting

Veteran founders

SPEAR Veterans Accelerator

Intensive venture acceleration built with military-affiliated leaders: customer discovery, capital strategy, and cohort community. Run in partnership with the SPEAR team.

spearaccelerator.com

Invited speaker · Athens

ICIMTH 2026

Adler Archer has been invited to speak at the International Conference on Informatics, Management, and Technology in Healthcare (July 3–4, Athens), presenting peer-reviewed research on scaling clinician innovation training beyond the academic health science centre.

Event details → Read the paper →
Audience at a healthcare informatics conference
Conversation about artificial intelligence in healthcare

Nexus Huddle · Virtual

Nexus Huddle: AI in Healthcare

A fireside chat on building and deploying AI in healthcare without creating regulatory risk, with practical guardrails for builders, clinicians, and policy partners.

Event details →

United Nations · Open source

United Nations Open Source

At United Nations Headquarters in 2023, the first OSPOs for Good symposium convened government, academic, and industry leaders to design cooperative open source digital infrastructure. Adler Archer helped organize the program on behalf of Johns Hopkins University.

Event details → Conference report (PDF) →
United Nations Headquarters in New York