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OCTOBER 17, 2023
THE LATEST
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India and the Intersection of AI x Climate x Health: Highlights from our Panel | |
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GKII recently hosted its first event at the new JHU SAIS building at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. Thank you to all those who joined us for this notable conversation!
This discussion, conducted in collaboration with Dasra’s ClimateRISE Alliance and Indiaspora, explored the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) both the capacity and limitations, to address interventions.
If you weren't able to attend the event in person, don't worry, check out the link below to the event recording.
Special thanks to the the panelists and moderator: Sanjay Purohit, Ex-Infosys and Chief Curator, Societal Thinking, Smisha Agarwal, Associate Professor and Director, Center for Global Digital Health Innovation, JHU, Kate Schneider, DCS Co-Faculty Lead, School of Advanced International Studies, JHU, Shefali V Mehta, Founder and Principal, Open Rivers Consulting Associates, Abhirup Datta, Associate Professor, Department of Biostatistics, Bloomberg School of Public Health, JHU, and Neera Nundy, Founder, Dasra.
GKII also thanks our student volunteers for their assistance with the event: Gandhar Joshi, Ameya Joshi, and Gaurishankar Gupta.
Gandhar is a second year Master of Arts in International Relations candidate at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, concentrating in the Development, Climate, and Sustainability and Asia focus areas. His interests center around development and energy policy in developing nations. He previously worked as a policy intern for a waste picker-led co-operative and as a research assistant for an energy think tank.
"One of the most significant takeaways from this talk is the crucial role that responsible AI deployment by the private sector in India plays in achieving equitable and impactful outcomes. The engaging panel discussion effectively cut through the noise and excitement that often accompanies AI. It provided valuable context for understanding the challenges related to data and biases within models and algorithms in the Indian context. As someone passionate about the role of technology in driving positive developmental outcomes in the global south, this discussion has profoundly reshaped my perspective on the necessity of regulations and government intervention in this emerging industry.
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Gandhar, pictured left, is a second year Master of Arts in International Relations candidate at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, concentrating in the Development, Climate, and Sustainability and Asia focus areas. His interests center around development and energy policy in developing nations. He previously worked as a policy intern for a waste picker-led co-operative and as a research assistant for an energy think tank.
"One of the most significant takeaways from this talk is the crucial role that responsible AI deployment by the private sector in India plays in achieving equitable and impactful outcomes. The engaging panel discussion effectively cut through the noise and excitement that often accompanies AI. It provided valuable context for understanding the challenges related to data and biases within models and algorithms in the Indian context," Gandhar said. "As someone passionate about the role of technology in driving positive developmental outcomes in the global south, this discussion has profoundly reshaped my perspective on the necessity of regulations and government intervention in this emerging industry."
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- What can be scaled may not work….and what works, may not be scalable.
- Scale is a design problem – not an implementation problem.
- Younger generations are willing to sacrifice more to address climate problems….. There is hope.
- How do we get leaders to make the decisions that reduce their resources and challenge their leadership – to make the world better?
- The bias in data is the bias in us. How do we build-in cultural context, that itself is verified, to ensure the accuracy of data?
- Digitalization of data is a major key to progress with AI – when the data is accurate, culturally sensitive, and shared appropriately among those planning the interventions. Just because there is data, there is not impact.
- AI does not listen and does not resolve problems…and there are real lives at stake that are depending on solutions.
- Access and equity are policy decisions we must resolve.
- We need ethical review standards (IRBs – Institutional Review Boards) similar to research standards, to address and protect data. The Purpose, Protection and Privacy of Data must be clear.
- How do we use data and AI to improve lives and not just profits?
- And a bonus: Start with simple models in data and AI technology (they often work!) - incrementally increase the complexity as needed.
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Announcing the Recipients of the 2023 GKII Student Travel Grant Cohort
We are pleased to announce Austin Schmidt, Rose Pollard Kaptchuk, and Manvi Poddar as the 2023 awardees of GKII’s Girish and Himangi Rishi Student Travel Grant supporting field placement projects with the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health.
The Girish and Himangi Rishi Student Travel Grant is designed to support student travel to India, leveraging the strengths of existing Johns Hopkins University research programs. Mr. Rishi, an alumnus of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), is an accomplished tech executive, now CEO of the industrial software company Cognite. He and his wife, Himangi Rishi, established the fellowships with GKII to connect their passion for business and technology with the challenges of urban hunger, sustainable diets, and health inequity.
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Dr. Maunank Shah Improves Standard of Care for TB Through Patient-centered Technology
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Johns Hopkins Medicine, Sept. 9, 2023
Dr. Shah serves as co-director for the microbiology and infectious diseases curriculum for students at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and as co-director of the clinical core for the Johns Hopkins Tuberculosis Research Advancement Center. Now president of the National Society of Tuberculosis Clinicians, Shah also helped create the online IDCrowd e-consultation platform adopted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded TB Centers of Excellence to support TB care in the U.S.
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Dr. Amita Gupta recently participated in a UN meeting focused on TB during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York City at UN headquarters. Dr. Gupta attended the meeting in her role as Co-chair of the TB Scientific Leadership Group for the International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials Network. Also in attendance were health ministers and representatives from more than 100 countries and stakeholder groups. Each country spoke at the podium for 3 minutes, sharing specific TB situations and actions needed to address TB.
The goal was to make specific commitments to address the global TB epidemic.
"It is so vital to have such high level political commitments made by member states across the globe. This was the second time since 2018 that such a high level meeting took place at the UN. It was inspiring and important. I was in the section where civil society voices were emphatically chanting 'End TB'," Dr. Gupta said. "Johns Hopkins TB research has led to several important discoveries that have changed WHO guidelines for TB prevention and treatment. Now the world needs to do a better job of committing resources to implement these strategies and identify a new TB vaccine."
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Brian Wahl, Associate Professor and GKII faculty steering committee member, attended a meeting this month hosted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to share ideas on how AI can be safely and responsibly deployed to improve human health outcomes.
“AI is catalyzing exciting opportunities in public health and global health. It has the power to revolutionize healthcare, both within our borders and beyond," Dr. Wahl said. "The Office of Science and Technology Policy in the White House convened an impressive group of academics and industry representatives to potential ways in which the US government can lead in this exciting new area.”
The broad roundtable discussion was moderated by Arati Prabhakar, the Science Advisor to the President of the United States, and Deirdre Mulligan, Principal Deputy US Chief Technology Officer. The roundtable was then followed by breakout sessions focusing on three core areas: AI Enabled Health Care- Delivering Benefit for Patients, Drug Development using AI, and AI to Improve Public Health and Global Health.
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Shaping the Future of India's HIV Response | |
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Earlier this fall, public health experts and government officials gathered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh to discuss the latest in HIV research and begin developing evidence-based technical briefs that will guide and inform India’s national HIV response.
On Sept. 27 and 28, the event “Development of Technical Briefs from Research Studies and Secondary Data Analysis,” brought together representatives from the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), State AIDS Control Societies, and development partners such as USAID, WHO, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, CDC, FHI 360, The National AIDS Research Institute, Center for Sexuality and Health Research and Policy, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, YRGCARE, and ACCELERATE, a #PEPFAR and USAID-supported program implemented through The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
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A Deep Dive into AI
The Hub, Oct. 4, 2023
K.T Ramesh and other experts at Johns Hopkins University's AI-X Foundry Fall 2023 Symposium reveal the potential of artificial intelligence—and of the institution's unprecedented investment in data science and AI—to revolutionize discovery and progress across all fields of study.
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JHU Alumnus Dr. Rakesh Gupta Speaks on His Career
Sushasan Podcast, Oct. 8, 2023
Dr. Rakesh Gupta, currently serving as Additional Secretary to the President of India, and the Former Additional Principal Secretary to CM Haryana, Former Project Director of the CMGGA Programme, and the Former Nodal Officer for 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' in Haryana, sheds light on how his PhD transformed his career trajectory.
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China Was Long the Top Source of Foreign Students in the U.S. Now India Has Overtaken It
The Chronicle of Higher Education,
Oct. 9, 2023
Despite a sizable bump in visas issued to Chinese students for the new academic year, for the first time in 15 years China is no longer the top source of international students in the United States. A surge in students from India displaced China from a position it has held since the 2009 academic year. As of September, there were more than 320,000 active Indian student-visa holders, compared with some 254,000 from China, according to a database maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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New Study Aims for Best Strategy to Find Recurrent Cases of Tuberculosis
The Indian Express, Sept. 15, 2023
A novel trial is underway in Pune to provide evidence on how best to find people with recurrent Tuberculosis (TB), so that they can be quickly linked to care. More than 1,000 cured TB patients have enrolled in the US-National Institutes of Health funded ‘Tuberculosis (TB) Aftermath’ study that is being conducted by Johns Hopkins University and Dr. D.Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Pimpri, Pune across six TB units. Drs. Jonathan Golub and Vidya Mave are quoted.
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Biomarkers to Predict Advance of TB in Household Contacts of Patients and Important Find
The Indian Express, Oct. 5, 2023
At Chennai’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases – International Centre for Excellence in Research (NIAID-ICER), scientists have identified a specific set of plasma biomarkers capable of identifying household contacts of tuberculosis (TB) patients who are at a significant risk of developing the disease.
This collaborative effort was a part of the Cohort for Tuberculosis Research by the Indo-US Medical Partnership (C-TRIUMPH) study.
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Better Data, Better Health
Amfar, April. 17, 2o23
Researcher Smita Nimkar discusses how an amfAR-directed data science mentorship program is helping her help children living with HIV in India and the Asia region.
Accurate and robust research data are the foundation of responding to the needs and concerns of people impacted by HIV/AIDS. Those data depend in part on researchers who not only know how to collect and interpret them, but also understand their interconnections within wider networks of data. Researcher Smita Nimkar, of BJ Medical College in Pune, India, is fine-tuning this skill set thanks to the Fogarty-IeDEA Mentorship Program (FIMP).
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Increasing Equitable Access to Medical Countermeasures for Pandemics and Health Emergencies
The Geopolitics, Sept. 13, 2023
Under India’s Presidency in 2023, the G20 has tabled two critical and interrelated issues: Health Emergencies Preparedness and Response and Strengthening Equitable Access to Medical Countermeasures (MCMs), including strengthening research and development and manufacturing networks globally.
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A Blueprint for Inclusive Health Architecture: Insights from India's G20
Global Health Now, Sept. 8, 2023
G20 ministers, policymakers, and multilateral bodies have steadfastly backed the health agenda proposed under India’s G20 presidency led by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, emphasizing innovation and universal health service accessibility and affordability. This process has fostered a consensus that global collaborative efforts are essential for preventing, preparing, and responding to health crises.
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Annual Impact Report for
2022-2023
Intelehealth, 2023
"As the needs of the COVID-19 pandemic fade, we are glad that health systems continue to invest in telemedicine as a vital tool to improve health access, and particularly to improve health access for women! Strong and vibrant health systems must be the legacy of this pandemic. Persistent systemic challenges continue to exist for women – in India, 90% cannot take independent decisions about their healthcare, 52% are not allowed to go to a facility alone, and 17% struggle to find someone to go with them (NFHS-5)."
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Opportunities for One Health Research in India
Visit the link below to view the recording of Ramanan Laxminarayan's presentation, "Opportunities for One Health Research in India." JHED ID login required.
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Understanding the Linkages Between Planetary Health and Population Health in South Asia
Check out the recording from this event, co-sponsored by the Gupta-Klinsky India Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
This dialogue between Dr. Brian Wahl and JHU alumnus Dr. Nitish Dogra covers research showing the impact of climate change on health in South Asia and how researchers can assess vulnerability in the area to minimize climate stress.
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1-Year Incidence of Tuberculosis Infection and Disease Among Household Contacts of Rifampin- and Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis
Clinical Infectious Diseases, Sept. 18, 2023
TB infection and TB disease incidence continued through 1 year in rifampin-/multidrug-resistant TB household contacts. Low preventive treament coverage emphasizes the need for evidence-based prevention and scale-up, particularly among high-risk groups.
Krishnan S, Wu X, Kim S, McIntire K, Naini L, Hughes MD, Dawson R, Mave V, Gaikwad S, Sanchez J, Mendoza-Ticona A, Gonzales P, Comins K, Shenje J, Fontain SN, Omozoarhe A, Mohapi L, Lalloo UG, Garcia Ferreira AC, Mugah C, Harrington M, Shah NS, Hesseling AC, Churchyard G, Swindells S, Gupta A
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Neonatal, Infant, and Child Mortality in India: Progress and Future Directions
Indian Journal of Pediatrics, Sept.11, 2023
In India, considerable progress has been made in reducing child mortality rates. Despite this achievement, wide disparities persist across and socio-economic strata, and persistent challenges, such as malnutrition, poor sanitation, and lack of clean water.
Wahl B, Nama N, Pandey RR, Garg T, Mishra AM, Srivastava S, Ali S, Verma SK, Erchick DJ, Sauer M, Venkatesh U, Koparkar A, Kishore S.
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Spirituality and Modern Art in India and the Himalayas: Neo-Tantra, Tibet, and the Goddess
Teaching South and Southeast Asian Art, April 11, 2023
Drawing on three case studies—the so-called Neo-Tantra group of the 1960s–1980s, the emergence of Tibetan diaspora art, and the engagement with Durga and Kali in the art of several Indian modernist figures—this chapter engages with the relationship between the spiritual and the modern during the last half of the twentieth century in India and the Tibetan diaspora.
Brown, R.M.
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UJMT Fogarty Global Health Fellowship Program
Application Deadline: Nov. 1, 2023
This program provides essential support for eligible doctoral and postdoctoral candidates, offering mentor-guided research training in the field of global health. Successful candidates engage in a year-long research endeavor at one of the affiliated institutions across the globe. This immersive experience enables them to conduct research in international settings, with comprehensive coverage for expenses including research funding, stipends, travel, and health insurance.
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American Institute of Indian Studies Announces 2023 Fellowships
Application Deadline: Nov. 15, 2023
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The American Institute of Indian Studies announces its 2023 fellowship competition and invites applications from scholars who wish to conduct their research in India. Junior fellowships are awarded to Ph.D. candidates to conduct research for their dissertations in India for up to eleven months. Senior fellowships are awarded to scholars who hold the Ph.D. degree for up to nine months of research in India. AIIS welcomes applicants from a wide variety of disciplines. It especially encourages applicants in fields such as Development Studies, Natural Resources Management, Public Health, and Regional Planning. Applications can be downloaded from the web site Applications can be downloaded from the web site.
For more information please contact the American Institute of Indian Studies (773) 702-8638. Email: aiis@uchicago.edu.
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Wellcome Discover Awards
Application Deadline: Nov. 21, 2023
This scheme provides funding for established researchers and teams from any discipline who want to pursue bold and creative research ideas to deliver significant shifts in understanding that could improve human life, health and wellbeing.
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Global Grant Challenges Grants
Grand Challenges is a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems. Each initiative is an experiment in the use of challenges to focus innovation on making an impact. Individual challenges address some of the same problems, but from differing perspectives.
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