Mobile Sensing for Global Health

Nithya Ramanathan

Computer Science, UCLA and Nexleaf Analytics

Abstract:

I’ll describe our research in building wireless sensing systems that leverage mobile phones to radically reduce the cost of data collection, compared with existing solutions, while enabling remote operation in almost any place on the planet. I'll describe several of our projects, including a suite of sensors to remotely monitor the indoor air pollution emissions from rural household energy use in India and Kenya; a sensor platform for remotely monitoring wildlife conservation efforts, especially useful for sensitive and remote habitats; and a sensor to ensure that vaccines and other temperature-sensitive medicines get to their destinations safely and on time by remotely monitoring the temperatures of refrigerated units used to store and transport vaccines and drugs. We use a number of analytical techniques, including the application of imagers to characterize the spectral dependance of a test sample. I’ll also describe our work with NGOs, governments, and scientists in deployment of new sensors and data analytics that, when coupled with mobile platform based solutions, capture data that aim to improve the health and environment of people living on less than $4 per day.

Biography:

Nithya Ramanathan is an Assistant Research Professor in Computer Science at the University of  California Los Angeles and Co-Founding President of Nexleaf Analytics.  Her expertise is in software architecture for mobile participatory sensing systems, with an emphasis on environmental and global health applications.  Her work includes building systems for monitoring air pollution, wildlife conservation, cookstove financing, behavioral intervention, water access and coldchain monitoring around the world, with a focus on Asia.  Dr. Ramanathan received a highly competitive NIH Challenge Grant to develop AndWellness, a self-monitoring and self-management smartphone application.  Dr. Ramanathan brings her 14 years of experience as a computer scientist, including her work in research and development at Intel and Hewlett-Packard.  She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA and holds a BS degree  from the University of California at Berkeley in Electrical Engineering. She is a former Switzer Fellow, PopTech Innovation Fellow, and Rainer Arnhold Fellow. She leads a number of projects with funding from the National Science Foundation, Gates Foundation, Google, Qualcomm, Nokia, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Environment Programme, and the National Institutes of Health.