Trainee Mentoring Award
Awardee: Kelsey Brown, MD, Pediatric Cardiology Fellow, Children’s National Hospital
Mentors: Marius George Linguraru, DPhil, Sheikh Zayed Institute
Craig Sable, MD, Interim Chief of Cardiology, Director of Echocardiography, Children’s National Hospital
Overall Project Objectives:
1. Develop a validated artificial intelligence algorithm with reasonable accuracy to diagnose rheumatic heart disease by echocardiography
2. Development of software/application that can be integrated into the field-testing environment
3. Implement field testing in endemic regions
4. Widespread use of this technology through task-shifting to increase RHD detection worldwide
Project Summary
Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) affects about 40 million persons, claims nearly 300,000 lives each year and is the number one cause globally of morbidity and mortality from heart disease in children and young adults. It is a disease of inequality, primarily effecting those living in low- and middle-income countries where there is limited access to specialized resources such as echocardiography which is the gold standard for diagnosis of RHD. We plan to develop and promote artificial intelligence tools for interpretation of echocardiograms to facilitate replicable scale-up of echocardiographic screening for early of latent RHD in RHD-endemic countries where non-physician healthcare workers are the cornerstone of frontline diagnosis and treatment. The funding provided by this grant will be directed to the field testing and implementation portion of the project.
