Frontline health workers in low-resource settings face immense challenges, including limited training, scarce supplies, understaffing, and weak infrastructure. Yet, innovative solutions are emerging in the form of AI-powered digital tools. These tools — from training chatbots to patient identification to AI-guided clinical decision support apps — offer the potential to transform frontline healthcare delivery in low-resource settings.
Join the Bay Area Global Health Alliance at 8:30-10 am PT, June 25 for a panel discussion exploring the complexities and opportunities of using AI to support frontline workers. This discussion, the third in a four-part series sponsored by Pfizer, will be moderated by UC Berkeley lecturer and Alliance board chair Colin Boyle and will feature Elina Urli Hodges (Duke Global Health Innovation Center), Daphne Ngunjiri (Access Afya, Kenya), Andrew Ddembe (MobiKlinic, Uganda), Raghav Minocha (Simprints), and Enric Jané (Causal Foundry).
Register here. Please note: Registration closes on Monday, June 24 at 4pm PT.
Background: Following the Alliance’s panel on AI during its 2023 Annual Meeting, and the Alliance’s participation in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Roundtable on AI and Global Health, members requested further convenings to understand opportunities and implications for their work. This series hopes to tackle that – showcasing members who have started integrating AI into their organizations and programs and exploring how best to ensure the responsible and ethical implementation of AI in their initiatives. It hopes to provide paths forward for those new to AI and those who are well-versed in the emerging technologies. Read more on the AI and Global Health series.
About our Speakers for Empowering Frontline Health Workers with AI:
Colin Boyle, Lecturer, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and Alliance board chair (moderator). Colin is a member of the professional faculty at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley where he teaches graduate courses on leadership and strategy for social enterprises and nonprofit organizations. Recently, he was Deputy Director of UCSF’s Institute for Global Health Sciences, dedicated to improving health and reducing inequities worldwide. Colin joined UC in 2012, after 15 years with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he was a partner and managing director leading many of the firm’s social impact projects, helping industry and non-profit innovators develop new products to combat disease and bring them to market for health impact. At UCSF, Colin focused on analyzing the case for investments in health, playing a supporting role in the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health and contributing to other investment cases for specific conditions. He also has supported or led efforts at UCSF related to malaria, TB, neglected infectious diseases, maternal health, health systems strengthening, and regulatory sciences. He also serves on the board of the Oakland Museum of California.
Andrew Ddembe, CEO & Founder, MobiKlinic. Andrew is a health equity advocate, health technology innovator, and CEO and founder of MobiKlinic, a health technology company that strives for improved last mile health delivery and equitable vaccine access. Andrew founded MobiKlinic in 2018. His company has unlocked access to health care and vaccines to hundreds of thousands of people in Buikew region, Eastern Uganda and in Busia, Western Kenya. Andrew has worked as a young expert in the Africa union and European Union youth cooperation hub. He currently represents digital health innovations on the WHO Civil Society and Youth Commission. Andrew has been featured among Forbes Africa top 30 under 30. He is tapped to receive the Global Citizen Prize for healthcare in 2024. Andrew’s vision is to scale MobiKlinic across Africa and enable health equity in Africa.
Elina Urli Hodges, Assistant Director, Programs, Duke Global Health Innovation Center. As an Assistant Director of Programs for the Global Health Innovation Center and Innovations in Healthcare, Elina oversees a portfolio of programs that aim to increase access to health in low- and middle-income countries. She recently co-developed an impact measurement framework for pharmaceutical industry-led access to medicine programs. Elina also directs a project, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that aims to identify key drivers behind uptake of life-saving global health interventions. Her project experience has taken her to Kazakhstan, China, India, and Kenya. Prior to joining Duke University, Elina worked for more than a decade on non-communicable disease prevention, population health, and global workplace health promotion projects with U.S. government institutions (CDC and Department of Defense), multinational corporations, and health systems. She began her career in health working in the national advocacy office of the American Heart Association in Washington, DC. Elina received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Foreign Affairs and French from the University of Virginia and a Master of Science in Public Health with a concentration in Health Policy and Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Enric Jané, Chief Strategy Officer, Causal Foundry.As the Chief Strategy Officer at Causal Foundry, Enric leverages his 18+ years of experience in global health, information technology, and data use to provide AI solutions that drive impact in health. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics, an M.D., and an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering, which gave him a strong foundation in business, technical, and research aspects of health initiatives. Enric’s core competencies include strategy development and implementation, stakeholder relations, digital health, and international development. He has led and supported multiple projects with diverse and influential organizations, such as Gates Ventures, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Vital Wave, Social Impact, and Terre des hommes. His mission is to address complex challenges, support institutional development and change, and create positive social impact through data-driven solutions.
Raghav Minocha, Senior Manager, Partnerships, Simprints. Raghav has spent almost 10 years working on health and humanitarian development projects across the world while living in Africa, Asia, North and Latin America, and Europe. Prior to Simprints, he worked for Egypt’s Ministry of Social Solidarity enabling community health worker-led interventions under the country’s flagship Hayat Karima project. He has also worked in Honduras and India on rural frontline mobile health clinic implementations and technology deployment. At Simprints, Raghav manages international partnerships with governments, fellow iNGOs, corporate partners, and technology companies. Raghav holds a Bachelor of Science from University of California, San Diego.
Daphne Ngunjiri, CEO, Access Afya. Daphne is the CEO of Access Afya, where she spearheads the mission to delivery affordable, high-quality healthcare to underserved communities in Kenya. A seasoned healthcare leader with over 15 years of combined medical and management experience, she holds both an MBChB from the University of Nairobi and an MBA in Healthcare Management and Policy from Strathmore Business School. Daphne believes passionately in the power of healthcare systems, data, and analytics to revolutionize operational efficiency and clinical outcomes.