They say AI is changing the future, Elina Naydenova is proof that they are right.
In 2017 CEO and Co-Founder of Feebris, Elina Naydenova, applied for and won the 2017 Children’s Prize and $100,000 to combat child mortality. Elina Naydenova is a medical engineer who has worked at the World Health Organization, Social Innovation in Health Initiative, and many other philanthropic organizations. She holds a Masters of Science in Biomedical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Healthcare Innovation from the University of Oxford. Elina Naydenova proposed the idea of using artificial intelligence to fight against childhood pneumonia.
Naydenova identified “the problem” as being pneumonia. She recognized that it is the number one killer of children under the age of five and that it disproportionately results in higher death rates in low-resource communities. Naydenova highlighted that India, Nigeria, and Pakistan are responsible for 56% of all pneumonia deaths, with India being the highest. As a result, she focused her innovation in one area, Maharashtra, India. Many things make up the high death rates in India, including its limited access to advanced equipment, limited access to clinical expertise, and weak primary health care systems.
Elina Naydenova developed a brilliant idea to implement mobile health toolkits that enable regular pneumonia screening for children in India’s urban slum. She founded the project on the premise of a clinical study that demonstrates the sustainable nature of technology within impoverished communities. The toolkit includes a mobile application that communicates using a digital stethoscope and a pulse oximeter. A pulse oximeter measures the proportion of oxygenated hemoglobin in the blood. The devices use algorithms to identify pneumonia and how severe the pneumonia is.
The project proposed by Elina Naydenova is original in its approach to enable better diagnosis and monitoring through AI-driven analysis of clinical signals. What sets this project apart is the scope in which it touches. The technology replaces hardware by automating the interpretation of signals and bringing together multiple devices through artificial intelligence.
Elina Naydenova continues the fight against child mortality through her company Feebris. Feebris builds AI tools that improve access to early diagnosis for the most vulnerable patients. They work under the framework that healthcare is a human right and has taken a particular interest in changing the health outcomes of children and the elderly alike.
Elina Naydenova and her company have changed the lives of over 3000 individuals and continue to do so. We all have a part to play in making this world a better place. Here at Children’s Prize, we award innovative solutions that take steps towards lowering the number of children that die every year from preventable causes.