Research

THINKMD works with research and technology development partners across the globe to study a variety of topics.

Learn more about our research partnerships and themes below.

Contact THINKMDif you would like to work together on a research study.

Technology Development Grant

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
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A program-related investment grant by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation allows for the development of a globally scalable standardized Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR)-based clinical Application Programming Interface (API) by THINKMD. The grant will also support data analytics and machine learning modelling for THINKMD’s clinical assessments and UX/UI components as well as field-based studies to test scaling models. This will allow for exploration of the multitude of ways that THINKMD’s clinical intelligence API can be globally distributed in all economic markets.

Read the full press release here.

Pfizer Innovation Grant

Pfizer-Foundation
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The Pfizer Foundation’s Global Health Innovation Grant (GHIG) helps THINKMD to improve our clinical algorithms and data analytics to assist frontline health workers to accurately identify acute febrile illnesses (AFIs), leading to better health outcomes. THINKMD has already begun this AFI work, having improved its malaria risk assessment in two rounds of machine learning analysis. Confirmatory diagnostic tests in combination with THINKMD’s risk assessment for dengue, urinary tract infection, and other illnesses will enable THINKMD to continue to hone risk assessments associated with fever (febrile illness). Ultimately, THINKMD will create enough risk profiles using individual symptomology and confirmatory tests to improve clinical risk assessments for febrile illnesses.

Read lessons from Social Entrepreneurs Fighting COVID-19.

Clinical Validation

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Pontifical_Catholic_University_of_Peru
UNICEF_Logo
save the children
MOH_Burkina_Faso
save the children
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THINKMD’s initial research (2013-2017) included validation of our child health assessment for children under-five. THINKMD’s clinical assessments and triage recommendations correlate 80-95% to that of a physician’s assessment.

Access our full peer-reviewed research article in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene.

Usability / Acceptability

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Pontifical_Catholic_University_of_Peru
UNICEF_Logo
save the children
Pfizer-Foundation
Medic mobile
MedicalCenter
Audere
icddr,b
Living Goods
South Sudan
MOH_Burkina_Faso
Ministry of Health
cdc
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In collaboration with partners, THINKMD conducts usability, acceptability and feasibility surveys with all end users and key stakeholders as a part of every implementation. We utilize this feedback to continuously improve our platform. THINKMD achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 90.

Quality of Care

Pfizer-Foundation
icddr,b
ehealth-Africa
save the children
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Adherence to WHO guidelines and national health assessment protocols directly impacts quality and consistency of health care. Use of THINKMD’s platform increases adherence to protocols. Calculation of DALYs reduce and Lives Saved are primary impact measures of improved quality of care. Findings indicate that an increase in adherence to WHO clinical guidelines by 40-60% and more than 30% sustained acquisition of WHO recommended “danger signs”.

Find THINKMD in the WHO compendium of innovative health technologies for low-resource settings, 2016- 2017.

Antimicrobial Stewardship

Pfizer-Foundation
icddr,b
ehealth-Africa
save the children
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Adherence to WHO guidelines and national treatment protocols directly impacts quality and consistency of health care. THINKMD’s platform can track treatments provided to ensure appropriate stewardship of medicine, and specifically, antimicrobials.

Health System Strengthening

Medic mobile
Living Goods
ehealth-Africa
Praekelt
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THINKMD is working with partners who have established community-based health care programs to better understand the effects of putting health assessment capability in the home that are linked to frontline health workers programs/clinics. Evaluation of health seeking behavior and utilization of healthcare services are areas of specific focus.

Primary Care Delivery Capacity

ehealth-Africa
save the children
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Data collected through use of the THINKMD platform demonstrates how use of our technology maintains and records productivity and, in some instances, increases productivity indicators of health workers/sites over time including the number of evaluations completed, number of counseling sessions and referrals made.

Embedded Diagnostics

Audere
FIND
ehealth-Africa
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Embedded workflows for illness which require confirmatory test results guide health workers to conduct, interpret, and record confirmatory test results directly within THINKMD’s platform. Correlation of clinical assessments with THINKMD logic will enable THINKMD to improve and develop data driven, next generation clinical algorithms.

Machine Learning

Northeastern_University_seal.svg
MedicalCenter
FIND
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Confirmatory “truth data”, whether via rapid diagnostic test (mRDT) and/or laboratory analysis (e.g blood sample, PCR), allow for the development supervisory Machine Learning THINKMD clinical algorithms to identify disease more accurately. Data driven THINKMD’s algorithm becomes smarter.

Read our latest research on the Development and Validation of Manually Modified and Supervised Machine Learning Clinical Assessment Algorithms for Malaria in Nigerian Children.

Profiling and Disease Surveillance

Pfizer-Foundation
Audere
South Sudan
Ministry of Health
cdc
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THINKMD has recently begun to generate health assessments in conjunction with confirmatory test results to begin to profile and differentiate diseases, in particular integrated disease surveillance priorities. Beginning with febrile illness, THINKMD plans to incorporate workflows for malaria, dengue, and coronavirus.

Financially Sustainable Scaling

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Pontifical_Catholic_University_of_Peru
UNICEF_Logo
save the children
Pfizer-Foundation
Medic mobile
Northeastern_University_seal.svg
MedicalCenter
Audere
icddr,b
Living Goods
South Sudan
MOH_Burkina_Faso
Ministry of Health
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THINKMD works collaboratively with partners to better understand reductions in direct and indirect costs of healthcare savings following THINKMD technology implementation. Considerations include materials, trainers, training, transportation, clinic vs home assessment, pharmacy vs clinic visits, accommodation, implementation, supervision, reporting, re-training, and treatment. Findings show a 50-70% reduction in healthcare training cost, 50% reduction in frontline health worker supervising cost and more than a 50% reduction in cost to train when training remotely.

mHealth in Supporting Remote/Home Triage

MedicalCenter
Vermont Larner College of Medicine
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THINKMD is conducting a research study with local Vermont pediatric practices to evaluate the potential value of digital mobile health (mHealth) applications in helping in the remote/home triage of sick children between families and their primary health care provider. Practices offer THINKMD’s mHealth platform to their families for optional use at home when they are concerned their child is sick and they are seeking guidance from their healthcare provider.

The platform guides a caregiver through an assessment of their child for potential breathing, dehydration, febrile illness and feeding problems by collecting information on the child’s recent history, current symptoms, as well as physical observations. Once completed and “Saved”, the platform will then generate a health assessment summary which is then sent to the child’s primary care provider (PCP) for discussion and direction on the next steps for evaluation and care of the child.

Explore THINKMD's Research & Publications