Chinasa T.. Okolo
Cornell University
PhD Student
Computer Science
Involvement/Activity
Student/Trainee/Staff Member
What I would like to offer as a collaborator…
My research leverages computer vision methods to improve the rapid diagnosis and treatment of infectious and tropical diseases in the Global South. The goal of this work is to integrate these models into mobile health applications that will aid community health workers in low-resource regions, fundamentally altering the way patients are managed and treated. Additionally, I lead research projects analyzing the applications, implications, and perceptions of AI-enabled technologies deployed throughout the Global South, with a focus on healthcare. This work has resulted in papers that have proposed a patient-centered framework to equitably guide the introduction of health AI tools, used ethnographic methods to understand how community health workers in India perceive the benefits and challenges of AI in their work, and assessed the privacy and security implications of AI in mobile healthcare.
What I am looking for from a collaborator…
I have deep expertise in AI tools developed for healthcare and for use in the Global South. My research has pioneered the evaluation of AI in community healthwork in low-resource regions and fits nicely with the goals of the Center for Health Equity. I have leveraged my work outside of academia into premier tech companies such as Microsoft, where I built domain-specific computational models for bacterial quorum sensing and at Apple, where I am currently developing responsible AI techniques for health sensing algorithms. These experiences have informed my work tremendously and inspire me to continue along my current research trajectory. It is extremely important to me that my work transcends the research lab and gets applied into the real world. I believe the Center will spur collaborations between me and other researchers that will have a significant impact in policy, healthcare, and global development. The Center also provides a multitude of educational and networking opportunities that I look forward to taking advantage of.
